US News Organizations Call for Biden, Trump to Commit to Debates

US News Organizations Call for Biden, Trump to Commit to Debates
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

  • A dozen news outlets have released a joint statement calling for "candidates who expect to meet the eligibility criteria" for November's US Presidential Election to publicly state their intention to commit to debates scheduled for this fall.

  • The letter is signed by ABC News, CBS News, NBCUniversal News Group, Fox, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS NewsHour, NewsNation, Univision, NPR, AP News, and USA Today.


The Spin

Pro-Trump narrative

Despite repeated assurances from the Trump campaign that the former president is more than willing to debate Biden, it's clear that memories of the 2020 election still haunt the Biden admin. Unwilling to have the president embarrassed on national television once again, Democrats continue to shield an aging and politically ineffective Biden from the public.

Democratic narrative

It's up to Biden to decide whether he should allow Trump the opportunity to spread further lies on national television. While debate between presidential candidates should be encouraged, Trump's brazen willingness to spread misinformation for personal gain is of no benefit to American democracy.

Nerd narrative

There's a 57% chance that a debate be held between Joe Biden and Donald Trump before the 2024 US presidential election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


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