PHOENIX (AP) — The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has planned presidential faceoffs in every election since 1988, has an uncertain future after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump struck an agreement to meet on their own.
The Biden and Trump campaigns announced a deal Wednesday to meet for debates in June on CNN and September on ABC. Just a day earlier, Frank Fahrenkopf, chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, had sounded optimistic that the candidates would eventually come around to accepting the commission’s debates.
“There’s no way you can force anyone to debate,” Fahrenkopf said in a virtual meeting of supporters of No Labels, which has continued as an advocacy group after it abandoned plans for a third-party presidential ticket. But he noted candidates have repeatedly toyed with skipping debates or finding alternatives before eventually showing up, though one was canceled in 2020 when Trump refused to appear virtually after he contracted COVID-19.
Insider Q&A: CIA's chief technologist's cautious embrace of generative AI
BYU hires Suns assistant Kevin Young to replace Mark Pope, who left to coach Kentucky
Caitlin Clark fever is spreading. Indiana is all
2 men exchange gunfire at Flint bus station, leaving 1 in critical condition
Britain's new bonkers EV: Callum Skye is an £80k electric buggy built in Warwickshire
Business boom: Record numbers of people are starting up new small businesses
Advocates push for full Medicaid expansion as Mississippi legislators enter negotiations
Citing safety, USC cancels speech by valedictorian who has publicly supported Palestinians
Election 2024: Biden and Trump bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates
Internet customers in western North Carolina to benefit from provider's $20M settlement