CNN sets first Biden-Trump presidential debate for June 27 in Atlanta • Nevada Current

WASHINGTON — CNN announced Wednesday morning that it will host a debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at the network’s Atlanta studios on June 27.

CNN said there would be no audience present for the debate and moderators would be announced later.

A second debate will be hosted by ABC News on September 10, in which both candidates have agreed to participate, according to ABC News.

Earlier Wednesday, Biden called for two debates to be held before early voting begins for the November election — and Trump responded that he would do so.

On X, formerly Twitter, Biden wrote that he had accepted an invitation from CNN for a debate on June 27.

“Your turn, Donald,” Biden wrote. “Like you said: anywhere, anytime, anywhere.”

Trump also agreed to participate in the June debate, according to CNN.

Biden began Wednesday’s discussions about the debates when he wrote to the Commission on Presidential Debates to say he would not accept a three-debate schedule set earlier by the nonpartisan organization, which organizes the presidential debates since the 1980s. The premiere would have taken place on September 16.

“President Joe Biden believes that the interests of the American people are best served by presidential debates that provide timely and relevant information to help inform voters before they make their choice – and that allow for a direct comparison of the two candidates with a chance. to win the election,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a letter to the commission.

Trump then agreed to Biden’s proposed debates, one in June and another in September, on his social media site, Truth Social. “I am ready and willing to debate Crooked Joe at both proposed times in June and September,” Trump wrote.

“Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I’ve ever faced – he can’t put two sentences together!” he also wrote.

Trump added that he wanted to debate immigration policy, electric vehicles, inflation, taxes and foreign policy with Biden. He also called for more than two debates.

In response to the Biden campaign, the Trump campaign also offers additional debates in June, July, August and September.

“Additional dates will allow voters to have maximum exposure to each candidate’s records and future visions,” the Trump campaign wrote.

Break with precedent

By informing the Commission on Presidential Debates that the president would not participate in its debates, the Biden campaign broke precedent and instead said news organizations should host the debates.

The Biden campaign has proposed that hosting news organizations be those that hosted a 2016 Republican primary debate in which Trump participated and any news organization that hosted a Democratic primary debate in which Biden participated in 2020.

Indeed, “neither campaign can claim that the sponsoring organization is manifestly unacceptable,” according to the letter.

The campaign proposed that the first debate take place in late June, “after Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York is likely concluded and after President Biden returns from his meeting with world leaders at the G7 summit.”

The second debate should take place in early September, the campaign argued, so that it is “early enough to influence early voting, but not too late to force candidates off the campaign trail during the critical late voting period.” September and October. .”

The Biden campaign is also proposing that a vice presidential debate take place in late July, after the Republican Party’s nominee and running mate are selected at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

An unknown factor is whether an independent candidate such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could also qualify for the debates.

CNN said in a press release that in order to participate in its debate, “a candidate’s name must appear on enough state ballots to reach the threshold of 270 electoral votes to win the presidency before the eligibility deadline; accept the rules and format of the debate; and receive at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting.

The release adds that acceptable polls will include those sponsored by: CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, Marquette University Law School, Monmouth University, NBC News, New York Times/Siena College, NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College, University Quinnipiac, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

“The voting window to determine debate eligibility opened on March 13, 2024 and closes seven days prior to the debate date,” the release said.