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Former President Donald Trump listens to applause at the Black Conservative Union Gala on February 23, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina.
CNN
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Former President Donald Trump’s campaign managers said Tuesday that the Commission on Presidential Debates told Fox News that despite calls from the Trump campaign to move up the schedule and add debates, He criticized the committee after it said it would stick to the debate schedule.
Trump campaign managers Chris Lacivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement that they would send invitations to “all television networks in the United States that wish to host a debate” and that President Joe Biden’s campaign In response, he said, “We asked them to make arrangements with each television station that wishes to host a debate.” as soon as possible. ”
Republicans have been pushing for weeks for a debate between Trump and Biden to be held as soon as possible.
“The Commission on Presidential Debates schedule will not begin until millions of Americans have already cast their votes. This is unacceptable, and by refusing to move up the debate, both candidates will “This is a grave disservice to the American people whose voices deserve to be heard,” LaCivita and Wiles’ statement said.
“President Trump has said he will debate Joe Biden anytime, anywhere, anywhere, and Joe Biden himself just agreed to debate. We are committed to making this happen with or without the Commission on Presidential Debates. We are doing our best,” they added. “We are extending invitations to all American television networks that wish to host a debate, and we reiterate our call on Joe Biden’s team to work with us to host a debate as soon as possible. The American people deserve it.”
CNN has reached out to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The commission told Fox News earlier Tuesday that it was sticking to its original schedule, saying, “The criteria for CPD are as follows.” […] It will take effect in early September. The committee will then extend debate invitations to qualified candidates. ”
“CPD is moving forward with production and broadcast plans for the four debate venues as announced on November 20, 2023,” the commission’s statement said, according to FOX News.
The Republican National Committee is encouraging its surrogates to urge Mr. Biden to debate Mr. Trump in a television interview. And Trump and his team have issued multiple statements making near-carbon-copy claims about the former president’s readiness to debate Biden anytime, anywhere.
The content of those calls illustrates the contrast that Trump and Republicans hope to see in Biden. The former president was energetic and eager to get on stage, while Biden is less so.
But Biden recently said in an interview with Howard Stern that he would be “happy to discuss” Trump. He has so far made ambiguous statements, saying that it depends on the former president’s actions.
Trump has had an uneven history in debates since he first appeared on the presidential campaign stage. There were times, like in 2016, when he was keen to argue with his rivals. However, in the 2024 Republican primary, the Republican front-runner ultimately won his party’s nomination despite skipping all debates.
Two years ago, the RNC firmly voted to withdraw from debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates after then-chair Ronna McDaniel lobbied the commission to change the debates in response to President Trump’s complaints. did.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Daniel Strauss contributed to this report.
