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.
Travis Kelce downs whiskey shot on slice of bread at Kelce Jam without Taylor Swift
Watch: 'State of the nation is fragile', Christopher Luxon says
National trying to wriggle out of promises with talk of 'fragile' economy
Crackdown on phone scammers leads to cutback in victim numbers
With Djokovic awaiting the winner, Murray trails Hanfmann at rain
Next generation will pay the price for critical transport projects, councillor warns
Unclear whether there's funding to continue extra hospital security guards
Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
Revealed: Hilariously scathing one