The Biden campaign is officially abandoning the Presidential Debates Commission.
For months, the Biden campaign has been setting the stage for Joe Biden’s potential refusal to engage in any presidential debates, while simultaneously laying the groundwork to blame Donald Trump for it — even though Trump has been calling on Biden to debate the entire time. Now, the campaign says it will not participate in the three planned debates for the fall, set up by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).
Instead, he’s calling for direct negotiations between the campaigns and is proposing two televised presidential debates in June and September.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020,” Biden falsely claimed in a video statement released Wednesday, “and since then he hasn’t shown up for a debate.”
Neither has Biden, for that matter; he refused to debate his primary challengers.
“Now he is acting like he wants to debate me again,” Biden continued. “Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”
It’s worth noting that the above video of Biden is a mere 13 seconds long yet has five jump cuts.
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) set up the initial presidential debate for Monday, Sept. 16, at Texas State University in San Marcos. Following that, the next debate was arranged for Tuesday, Oct. 1, at Virginia State University in Petersburg. The final debate was scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The Trump campaign has been advocating for debates to occur before the commencement of early voting.
“The Commission’s model of building huge spectacles with large audiences at great expense simply isn’t necessary or conducive to good debates,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon claimed in a letter to the commission. “The debates should be conducted for the benefit of the American voters, watching on television and at home — not as entertainment for an in-person audience with raucous or disruptive partisans and donors, who consume valuable debate time with noisy spectacles of approval or jeering.”
The Biden campaign’s position on participating in the presidential debates has been so ambiguous and noncommittal that major news outlets issued a joint statement urging both candidates to publicly commit to debating — though everybody knew that the statement was aimed at Biden.
Biden’s reason for refusing to participate in the debates is obvious. His public appearances have been disasters as he struggles to even read off of his teleprompter. And when he goes off-the-cuff, well, forget about it.
But last month, during an interview with Howard Stern, Biden said, “I’m happy to debate him.”
President Trump has already accepted the offer.
“Crooked Joe Biden is the worst debater I have ever faced — he can’t put two sentences together,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “Crooked is also the worst president in the history of the United States, by far.”
Trump added that “it is time for a debate to take place — even if it has to be held through the offices of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which are totally controlled by Democrats and who, as people remember, got caught cheating with me with debate sound levels.”
“I’m ready to go,” he continued. “The dates that they proposed are fine. Anywhere. Anytime. Any place. Let’s see if Joe can make it to the stand-up podium.”
“The proposed June and early September dates are fully acceptable to me,” he added. “I will provide my own transportation.”