PHOENIX — The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has planned presidential showdowns in every election since 1988, has an uncertain future after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump reached an agreement to meet alone.
The Biden and Trump campaigns announced an agreement Wednesday to reunite for debates in June on CNN and in September on ABC. Just a day earlier, Frank Fahrenkopf, chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, seemed optimistic that the candidates would ultimately accept the commission’s debates.
“There is no way to force anyone to debate,” Fahrenkopf said at a virtual meeting of supporters of No Labels, which continued as an advocacy group after abandoning plans for a third-party presidential ticket. But he noted that candidates repeatedly toyed with skipping debates or finding alternatives before finally appearing, although one was canceled in 2020 when Trump refused to appear virtually after contracting COVID-19.
In reaching a deal on their own, Biden and Trump sidelined a commission that aims to set neutral rules and provide a forum that would be simulcast on all major networks.
The commission suggested in a statement Wednesday that it would not immediately abandon its plans.
The commission was “created in 1987 specifically to ensure that such debates occur reliably and reach the widest television, radio and streaming audience,” the statement said. “Our 2024 sites, all higher education sites, are prepared to host debates on dates chosen to accommodate early voters. We will remain ready to execute this plan.”
Commission representatives did not respond to requests for additional comment.
The Biden and Trump campaigns criticized the commission’s plans, including the dates set in September and October, after voters in many states had already begun voting by mail.
Fahrenkopf said Tuesday that he had not spoken to representatives for Biden or Trump. All the while, campaigns struck their own deals. But he defended the importance of television debates in general.
“You learn a lot about the candidate’s personality,” Fahrenkopf said. “Not just their stance on issues, but also how they behave and how you feel about how they behave.”
