Trump has repeatedly called on the president to debate him.
President Joe Biden confirmed he will debate former President Donald Trump.
“I am, somewhere,” he said during an interview with Howard Stern on April 26. “I don’t know when, but I’m happy to debate him.”
The president’s statement comes after his administration continuously bucked called for a debate, citing concerns over potential fairness with the uncertainty of who would host the matchup, and his statements after his March 8 State of the Union address that a debate with President Trump “would depend upon his behavior.”
Both the Republican and Democrat parties appeared to rapidly choose their supposed candidates for the 2024 presidential elections, with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley being the last Republican to suspend her campaign on March 6. Since then, several media outlets have urged both frontrunners to debate each other in front of the nation.
“If there’s one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” a joint media April 14 statement states. “Amidst that backdrop, there is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation.”
President Trump also issued several debate challenges to President Biden.
“I’m calling on Crooked Joe Biden to debate anytime, anywhere, any place,” he said at a campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, on April 13. “We have to debate because our country is going in the wrong direction so badly. While it is a little bit typical early, we have to debate, we have to explain to the American people what the hell is going on.”
The two presidents previously had a heated debate in 2020 in which they exchanged verbal attacks, with President Biden at one point saying “Will you shut up, man.”
The Commission on Presidential Debates already released proposed dates for three presidential debates: Sept. 16, Oct. 1, and Oct. 9. But the exact time and place are still to be determined.
By T.J. Muscaro
