Former President Donald Trump is demanding debates with his presumptive Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden before Americans in many parts of the country begin casting early ballots.
Biden’s team has been hesitant to commit him to any debates with Trump, let alone early ones, though three-fourths of voters believe if Biden skips the presidential debates, it shows “weakness,” a Fox News poll recently found.
In March, Trump challenged Biden to debates on the president’s record anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.
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That said, the Presidential Commission on Debates has already announced dates and venues:
First presidential debate:
Monday, September 16, 2024
Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
Second presidential debate:
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA
Third presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
In a letter obtained by Breitbart News on Thursday, the Trump campaign requested that the commission schedule the debates more frequently and earlier.
“While the Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate to occur later this year, we are in favor of these debates beginning much earlier,” Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote to the panel.
The Trump campaign managers said the debates need to begin earlier in the 2024 cycle than usual because “voting is beginning earlier and earlier, and as we saw in 2020, tens of millions of Americans had already voted by the time of the first debate.”
“By the date of the first proposed debate, September 16, 2024, over 1 million Americans will have likely voted,” they said. “By the date of the second proposed debate, October 1, 2024, the number of Americans who will have likely cast a ballot will be over 3 million, an increase of 225%.”
The pair then estimated that by the third scheduled debate on October 9, “approximately 8.7 million Americans will have already voted.”
The letter added:
In 2020, the Commission ceded to the wishes of the Biden campaign on every front, refusing to move up the dates of the debates, failing to reschedule the debate canceled by COVID-19, cutting off President Trump’s microphone over and over in the middle of a debate, and in the case of the first debate, selecting a demonstrably anti-Trump moderator clearly positioned to aid Joe Biden. Fairness in such a setting is paramount and the Commission must ensure that the 2024 Commission-sponsored debates are truly fair and conducted impartially.
The Commission must move up the timetable of its proposed 2024 debates to ensure more Americans have a full chance to see the candidates before they start voting, and we would argue for adding more debates in addition to those on the currently proposed schedule. We have already indicated President Trump is willing to debate anytime, anyplace, and anywhere – and the time to start these debates is now.
