Apparently, in Biden’s America, a president can prosecute his opponent and still avoid debating him one-on-one… or can he?
President Donald Trump’s campaigning team, on Tuesday, strongly criticized a statement issued by the Commission on Presidential Debates which has been in charge of managing both the scheduling and moderation of the presidential debates for several decades. This supposedly non-partisan organization has four debates lined up, the first in mid-September and the last a few weeks before the election on November 5th.
Trump’s campaign termed the schedule as ‘unacceptable’ as the dates for the debates were confirmed only after Joe Biden agreed to participate in them. According to The Hill, the campaign argued that the commission should have rescheduled the dates to an earlier time as the laws on early voting in several states mean that by the time the debates wrap up, a large number of ballots would have already been cast. But the commission refused to budge.
This decision by the Commission on Presidential Debates was vehemently condemned by Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, representing Trump’s campaign. In a joint statement given to the media outlet, LaCivita and Wiles slammed the organization, saying, “The Presidential Debate Commission’s schedule does not begin until after millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots. This is unacceptable and by refusing to move up the debates, they are doing a grave disservice to the American public who deserve to hear from both candidates before voting begins.”
The Trump campaign also maintained that the former president would participate in the debates regardless of the schedule, leaving the possibility open for them to bypass the commission and make other arrangements. They further extended an invitation to every television network in America to host a debate and urged Biden’s team to work with them to set one up at the earliest.
The Commission on Presidential Debates, established in 1987, has been widely criticized in the past for their choice of moderators, with many accusing them of showing clear bias against Trump.
In the 2020 debates, NBC’s Kristen Welker and former Fox News host Chris Wallace were picked as moderators, leading to lopsided debates where Biden was hardly challenged on important issues. The Trump campaign was looking forward to a rescheduled debate after the former president was diagnosed with COVID, but he reportedly declined to attend virtually, leading to the event being cancelled.
Remember the Trump Vs Biden debate in 2020?
Kristen Welker stopped Trump from talking about the #LaptopFromHell and instead wanted to deceive the public with her race baiting banter ????
Well guess who @GOPChairwoman has appointed to be the host of the next GOP debate ????… pic.twitter.com/dFtHw8Oanc
— Todd With Trump (@THeinrich22) October 27, 2023
The decision of the Commission on Presidential Debates to stick to the debated schedule despite objections from Trump’s campaign has been met with strong disapproval.
The campaign team has accused the organization of denying the American public their right to hear from both candidates before casting their votes. The possibility of Trump participating in debates hosted by other television networks has been left open, signaling that the former president is determined to engage in debates with Biden before the election.