Media calls for discussion of presidential candidates

Although Trump, who did not participate in the Republican Party nomination debates, expressed his willingness to confront his rival in the 2020 elections, the Democratic president did not commit to debating with him again.

Although invitations have not been officially issued, media companies said it is not too early for each organization to publicly announce that it will participate in the three presidential forums and the vice presidential forum hosted by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this period of polarization, it is that the stakes in this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations said in a joint statement. In this context, there is no alternative for the candidates to discuss among themselves and before the American people about their vision for the future of our nation. »

ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, PBS, NBC, NPR and the Associated Press all signed the letter.

millimeter. Biden and Trump debated twice in 2020. A third debate was canceled after Trump, then president, was infected with the Covid-19 virus and did not want to debate remotely.

When asked on March 8 whether he would participate in a debate with Trump, Biden said: “It depends on his behavior.” The current president was clearly annoyed with his opponent during the first free debate of 2020, saying at one point: “Will you shut up? “.

“We have already indicated that President Trump is ready to debate anytime, anywhere — and now is the time to begin those debates,” Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a letter last week.

They cited the seven debates that took place in the Illinois Senate in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, saying that “America today certainly deserves the same.”

The Republican National Committee voted in 2022 to no longer participate in forums sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The Trump Organization did not indicate that it would commit to this, but it set certain conditions. Campaign managers said the committee selected a “blatantly anti-Trump moderator” in then-Fox News host Chris Wallace in 2020, and they wanted assurances that the committee's proceedings were fair and impartial.

The Trump Organization also wants to move up the timeline, saying many Americans will have already voted by September 16, 1^any October and October 9, the dates of the three discussions set by the committee.

Mr. Biden's organization declined to comment on the media companies' letter, pointing to the former president's statement. There was no immediate response from the Trump Organization.

However, on Saturday, Trump attended a rally in northeastern Pennsylvania with two podiums set up on the stage: one to deliver a speech, the other to symbolize what he said was Biden's refusal to debate against him. On the second desk was a sign that read: “At any time.” Anywhere “.

In the middle of his speech, Trump turned to his right and pointed to the second stage, inviting Joe Biden to debate while the country was headed “in the wrong direction.”

C-SPAN, NewsNation and Univision also joined the letter calling for discussions. Only one newspaper, USA Today, added its voice. The Washington Post declined the membership application.

Broadcasters can certainly benefit from the attention that discussions can bring. The TV screens are on the net from the 2020 campaign, many of the internet facteurs on the computer line, that is, the bandwidth that connects the internet to the information in the next few years .

There has been no Democratic debate this presidential cycle, and Trump's refusal to participate in Republican forums has limited the interest those forums have generated.