WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s campaign said Monday that the former vice president would commit to participating in three debates, and slammed a push by President Trump’s advisers for additional debates as an “effort to change the subject.”
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“Our position is straightforward and clear: Joe Biden will accept the Commission’s debates, on the Commission’s dates, under the Commission’s established format and the Commission’s independent choice of moderators,” said Biden Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillon in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonprofit group that sponsors general election debates, which was obtained by The Associated Press. “Donald Trump and Mike Pence should do the same.”
“Any ‘debate proposals’ in lieu of that are just an effort to change the subject, avoid debates, or create a distracting ‘debate about debates,’” she added.
The letter, which was first reported by the Washington Post, came in response to a request made by Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to add another, earlier debate to the current schedule of three. They also proposed that each campaign have a role in selecting the debate moderators.
Trump’s team noted absentee and mail voting is being expanded because of the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed concern that some ballots — especially those by elderly voters most at risk to the virus — could be cast before the first debate. The first is scheduled for Sept. 29 at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, the second on October 15 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and the third for a week later, Oct. 22, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.
The seeming acceptance that a vast number of this year’s votes will be cast by mail marks a change for the campaign. Both Giuliani and Trump have criticized widespread mail voting and claimed without evidence that mail ballots are ripe for fraud.
In the Monday letter, O’Malley Dillon also pointed out that the Trump campaign’s request for more debates marked a shift from December, when advisers were threatening that Trump might skip the debates altogether.
That shift comes as Trump’s campaign has been seeking to paint Biden as mentally unsuited for the presidency, pointing to some of his verbal flubs on the campaign trail and lambasting the former vice president for campaigning “from his basement” during the pandemic, as Trump hit the campaign trail for his first rally during the pandemic this past weekend.
Indeed, in a statement on the Biden campaign’s refusal to engage in additional debates, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh charged that his aides were “afraid” to send the Democrat out in unscripted situations, noting it’s been more than 80 days since Biden held a press conference.
“An earlier and longer debate schedule is necessary so Americans can see the clear difference between President Trump’s vibrant leadership and Biden’s confused meandering,” he said.
In the Monday letter, O’Malley also asked that the CPD confirm that it’s formulating safety plans to ensure that the debates will go on despite the coronavirus pandemic, and that the second debate be held in a town hall format, which would allow voters to ask questions of each candidate.
“The Trump campaign proposal for elaborate negotiations is merely an effort to dodge fair, even-handed debates,” O’Malley Dillon wrote.
I cannot imagine why he would want to debate President Trump. People’s minds are more or less made up. Biden only stands to lose.
Why would the honorable Joe Biden go onto a debate stage? No social distancing? Such a reckless move. Is it worth Joe killing one staff member just to appear on stage? What message would he be sending the Nation? We need a leader who will be responsible. We shouldn’t be made to choose between 2 draft dodgers.
the picture looks like his nurse is taking care of him
Thee’ll be only one , ’cause Trump will expose his racist record , dissect his family’s Ukraine connection and spit him out. That’s even assuming the Unk will be aware of where he is.
Then his handlers will drag him back into the basement and serve him hot chocolate.
The Presidential debates are not required by the U.S. Constitution, and have turned into a farce. In 1948, Truman never debated Dewey, and won. In 1952 and in 1956, Ike never debated Adlai Stevenson and also won. In 1960, Nixon debated JFK, and lost, because of his poor visual showing in the first debate. In 1964, LBJ refused to debate Goldwater and won. In 1968, Nixon did not debate Hubert Humphrey, and won. He also refused to debate McGovern in 1972 and won. The debates were reinstated in 1976, when Gerald Ford debated Jimmie Carter and lost. The debates have continued every four years since that time. However, it has been revealed that four years ago, Hillary Clinton was apprised of the questions for one of the debates, in advance. In summary, the debates prove bupkis. They only illustrate which candidate can produce better retorts and one liners. Hence, they tend to be a waste of time. The only ones who benefit from the debates, are the networks sponsoring the debates, vis-a-vis their ratings.
In a country where the media is run by one party a debate is very important. It’s the only way the other side could bring their message to the general public
If someone has to lose , it might as well be joe shmoe biden