President Joe Biden’s campaign said that it would not take part in further debates proposed by former President Donald Trump. The statement came after the two sides agreed to take part in debates in June and September, significantly altering the recent tradition of three debates.
Biden’s campaign said that the “debate about debates is over” following an effort by Trump to seek more debates. “No more games,” said the Biden campaign.
Trump said that the planned debates are the ones that “Voters have been asking for, and these are the Debates that Voters will get!”
Recent elections have had three debates between major party candidates, set up by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. In 2020 there were only two debates after one was canceled over coronavirus concerns.
For weeks the former president urged Biden to take part in multiple debates, including prior to the planned fall ones. Biden at first signaled tepid support for the plan, but did not indicate when and where such debates would take place.
The Trump campaign appears to believe that Trump’s debate performances in 2016 and 2020 played a major role in his campaigns. In particular, Trump cites his experience debating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 in his victory that year.
Trump also plans a series of rallies in states that traditionally vote for Democrats. The former president held a well-attended rally in New Jersey earlier this month, which has not voted for a Republican for president in more than 30 years. The Trump campaign estimated that up to 100,000 people attended the rally.
Furthermore, Trump is planning a rally in New York City next week. The state has not been carried by a Republican in 40 years.
Trump predicted that he would win New Jersey and make a serious push in New York, his former state.
The former president also joked that he would demand a drug test from Biden while headlining the Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan dinner Friday.
President Trump will demand a drug test for the CNN Debate from Crooked Joe pic.twitter.com/yAQA2RauZy
— miguelifornia (@miguelifornia) May 18, 2024
Trump plans a major push there, despite the fact that no Republican has won there in more than 50 years.
