Biden’s Worst Nightmare Becomes Reality
Even the media is now asking Biden to take on his biggest fear. Will he?
In a joint appeal, twelve prominent news organizations have urged both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the presumptive presidential nominees, to commit to engaging in debates. These debates, they emphasized, represent a longstanding tradition integral to American electoral politics, tracing back to 1976.
While Trump, who abstained from debates during the Republican nomination process, has expressed a readiness to engage his 2020 adversary, Biden remains noncommittal about facing off against him again.
Though formal invitations have yet to be extended, the news consortium emphasized the importance of early public declarations from both campaigns regarding their participation in the series of debates organized by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. These debates consist of three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate.
The organizations underscored the exceptional significance of the upcoming election, stressing that amidst heightened polarization, there’s no substitute for the candidates articulating their visions for the nation’s future directly to the American people through debates.
Signatories to the joint statement include major networks such as ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, PBS, NBC, NPR, and The Associated Press.
Biden and Trump had engaged in two debates during the 2020 election cycle. However, a planned third debate was canceled due to Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, as he refused to participate remotely.
When questioned about his willingness to engage in a debate with Trump on March 8, Biden’s response hinged on Trump’s conduct during such an event, referencing the contentious nature of their first debate in 2020.
The Trump campaign, represented by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, conveyed their candidate’s eagerness to debate at any time and place. They drew parallels with the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, emphasizing the importance of such engagements in contemporary American politics.
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee’s decision to disengage from debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates raised questions about the Trump campaign’s stance. The campaign sought assurances of fair and impartial moderation and proposed an earlier debate schedule to accommodate early voting trends.
The Biden campaign refrained from immediate comment, deferring to the president’s earlier remarks. Likewise, the Trump campaign offered no immediate response to the news organizations’ appeal.
However, Trump took the opportunity during a rally to underscore his readiness for a debate, symbolically placing a podium for Biden alongside his own. He reiterated his call for a debate, emphasizing the urgency of addressing the country’s direction.
In addition to the major broadcasters, C-SPAN, NewsNation, and Univision also lent their voices to the call for debates. Only one newspaper, USA Today, joined the appeal.
The appeal also highlighted the potential boost in viewership that debates could provide for broadcasters, amidst declining television news ratings, attributed in part to factors such as cord-cutting and the ongoing pandemic.
Unlike the Republican side, there were no Democratic debates during this presidential cycle, largely influenced by Trump’s prior disengagement from GOP forums, which dampened public interest in such events.
