President Biden Open to Debate with Former President Trump
Washington— President Biden signaled for the first time publicly that he is willing to debate former President Donald Trump, his presumptive Republican opponent, ahead of November's general election.
Asked during an hour-long interview on Howard Stern's show on SiriusXM if he would debate his rival, Mr. Biden replied, "I am, somewhere. I don't know when. I am happy to debate him."
Mr. Biden said in March that his commitment to a debate with Trump "depends on his behavior." Asked about a debate during a trip to Nevada in February, Mr. Biden said, "If I were him, I'd want him to debate me, too. He's got nothing else to do."
Following Mr. Biden's comments on Friday, Chris LaCivita, a Trump campaign senior adviser and the chief operating officer of the Republican National Committee, wrote, "Ok let's set it up !"
Mr. Biden's answer comes as Trump and his campaign have called on him to publicly commit to a debate.
News organizations have also urged the two men to commit to face off. CBS News and 11 other news outlets issued a statement earlier this month urging the two to publicly state their commitments to a debate in the fall.
Trump and the GOP have had a tumultuous relationship with the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonpartisan group that has organized general election debates since 1988. In 2022, the RNC unanimously decided to prohibit future GOP presidential nominees from participating in debates organized by the committee. Then-RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel labeled the commission as "biased" and pushed for changes in how moderators were chosen.
Trump opted out of all 2024 GOP primary debates, consistently referring to his lead in polling over his GOP rivals. However, in an April letter to the CPD, his campaign's senior advisers expressed agreement with the "letter from television networks" and requested the general election debates to commence "much earlier" to accommodate early voting periods.
"We have already indicated President Trump is ready to debate anytime, anyplace, and anywhere — and the time to start these debates is now," the Trump officials conveyed.
The Biden campaign deferred additional inquiries about a potential debate to Mr. Biden's response to Stern on Friday.
In 2020, Mr. Biden and Trump engaged in two debates. One debate was scrapped after Trump tested positive for COVID-19.
In November 2023, the CPD revealed the dates for three presidential debates in 2024: Sept. 16, Oct. 1, and Oct. 9. Additionally, one vice presidential debate is set for Sept. 25.
