US President Joe Biden challenged his rival and Republican predecessor Donald Trump to two debates before the November elections, but said he would ignore a traditional debate schedule set by a bipartisan commission.
“Donald Trump lost two debates for me in 2020 and has not attended a debate since,” Biden said in a video posted to social media Wednesday morning. “Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, friend. I’ll even do it twice.”
Biden called on Trump to join him in two televised presidential debates in June and September.
The Democratic president also criticized Trump’s legal troubles in the video, with a reference to the weekly break in Trump’s secret trial in New York. “Then let’s pick the dates, Donald. I heard you’re free on Wednesdays,” Biden said.
His proposal, outlined in a letter and video, called for direct negotiations between the Trump and Biden campaigns over rules, network hosts and moderators for one-on-one meetings.
Trump responded quickly, writing on his Truth social media platform that he is “ready and willing to debate Crooked Joe” on the proposed dates.
Donald Trump lost two debates for me in 2020. Since then, he has not attended a single debate.
Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again.
Well, make my day, friend. pic.twitter.com/AkPmvs2q4u
-Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024
“I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is reportedly afraid of crowds – that’s just because he doesn’t understand them,” Trump wrote.
“Just tell me when, I’ll be there. ‘Let’s get ready to make some noise!!!'”
Biden later confirmed that he accepted an invitation from CNN for a debate on June 27 and challenged Trump to attend.
“It’s up to you, Donald. Like you said: anywhere, anytime, anywhere,” he wrote in a social media post.
Fox News reported that Trump intends to accept the invitation.
Most polls show a tight race between Biden and Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.
Experts said the race will likely come down to candidates’ performance in battleground states such as Michigan, Georgia and Nevada.
But there is also widespread frustration that the choice in this election cycle is the same as in 2020, when Biden defeated the then-incumbent Trump to win the White House.
A recent Pew Research Center poll found that nearly half of all registered voters said they would replace Biden and Trump at the polls if they could.
About two-thirds of those surveyed said they had little or no confidence that Biden is physically fit to be president, while a similar number said they did not believe Trump would act ethically in office.
“It’s election 2.0,” Jan Leighley, a political science professor at American University in Washington, D.C., told Al Jazeera this month.
“I think this creates a disincentive to vote, which goes back to campaigns again to convince people that even though it’s the same choice, there’s still a reason to vote.”
Both candidates also face serious challenges ahead of the elections.
Trump is currently in court on charges that he falsified business documents to hide secret payments made to an adult film star – one of four criminal charges against the former president.
Biden, for his part, has faced widespread criticism and public anger over his support for Israel during the Gaza war, with key segments of his Democratic Party base saying they would not vote for him if he did not change his position.
Trump, who refused to debate his rivals in the Republican primaries, has in recent weeks challenged Biden to a one-on-one confrontation, offering to debate the Democratic incumbent “anytime, anywhere, any time.” place”.
On Wednesday, Biden’s campaign explained its decision to avoid the traditional debate schedule in a letter to Commission on Presidential Debatesa non-profit organization that has sponsored presidential debates in the US since 1988.
“The Commission’s calendar has debates that begin after the American people have the opportunity to vote early and only end after tens of millions of Americans have already voted,” the campaign wrote.
He also stated that the commission’s model of holding debates with large in-person audiences “is simply not necessary nor does it lead to good debates.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
