President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump accepted CNN’s invitation to a presidential debate on June 27. The meeting will set the tone for the final months of the 2024 campaign and will take place at a date considered early in the historical pattern of the race for the White House.
“I received and accepted an invitation from @CNN for a debate on June 27th. It’s up to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, anytime,” Biden said this Wednesday (15), in a post on X.
One of the professionals responsible for Trump’s campaign then confirmed to CNN that Trump accepted the invitation.
The confirmation represents the most recent event in the rhetorical escalation in relation to the debates between the two political rivals.
Biden’s campaign had asked Trump to participate in two presidential debates mediated by journalism companies and formally informed the Commission on Presidential Debates that the president would not participate in the events that had already been scheduled for the third quarter. The Republican responded quickly: he said he agreed with the debates in June and stated, in a radio interview, that he would accept any moderator.
Recently, Biden said he was happy to debate Trump, although he did not commit to the format of such a debate: “I’m happy to debate him,” he also said in a radio interview. Biden’s campaign published a video on social media and sent a proposal for the event to the Commission on Presidential Debates, including a suggestion of possible dates.
In the video released on Wednesday morning (15), in which the president speaks directly to a camera, Biden makes a more direct challenge.
“Donald Trump lost two debates for me in 2020. He hasn’t appeared since. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again,” Biden said.
In a post published on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he is “ready to debate ‘Hunchback Joe’ on the suggested dates”, also stating that he strongly recommends that more than two debates be held.
The two politicians’ teams have informally debated the format of the debate in recent weeks, three sources linked to the discussion told CNN.
There are still differences between Biden and Trump regarding the model that should be followed – including the possibility of having an audience or not. The current US president claims that televised debates without a studio audience, as they were done in the 1960s, had more content and were focused on “voter interests”.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, wrote on social media that he would prefer “a huge audience, for the entertainment, even though Biden is afraid of crowds”.
Share:
