Trump campaign calls for additional, ‘much earlier’ debates

The Trump campaign on Thursday wrote to the Commission on Presidential Debates, urging the organization to move up the timeline for planned debates between former President Trump and President Biden and to increase the number of faceoffs the two candidates have before Election Day.

The letter is the latest instance of the Trump campaign seeking to pressure Biden into debating in the fall, even as Trump skipped all of the GOP primary debates this cycle. The Trump campaign cited the start of early voting in many states as the reason to move up the timeline.

“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,” Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, the top advisers to the Trump campaign, wrote to the commission.

“We have already indicated President Trump is willing to debate anytime, anyplace, and anywhere — and the time to start these debates is now,” the two added.

There are three presidential debates scheduled for the 2024 cycle, beginning in September, as well as one vice presidential debate scheduled.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks on April 10, 2024, after arriving in Atlanta. (Jason Allen, Associated Press)

Wiles and LaCivita noted that by the date of the first proposed debate, Sept. 16, more than 1 million Americans are likely to have already used early voting to cast a ballot, and 3 million may have cast their ballot by the time of the second debate on Oct. 1.

“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,” Wiles and LaCivita wrote.

Trump has for weeks pledged to debate Biden “any time, any place,” despite his refusal to participate in the GOP primary debates and his past hostility toward the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The former president has frequently railed against the commission, pointing to a technical issue with his microphone during a 2016 debate, complaining about moderators and blasting a decision to cancel a debate with Biden in 2020 after Trump tested positive for COVID-19 and refused to participate virtually.

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But Trump has pivoted to embracing the prospect of debates with Biden as the former president has maintained a lead in battleground state polls.

Trump cited his massive polling lead in the GOP primary to justify skipping those debates, but some pundits questioned if the move would allow Biden to opt out of future debate if the president is ahead in the polls in the fall.

Biden’s campaign has thus far declined to commit to participating in the debates, and the president himself has offered largely tongue-in-cheek answers when asked about the prospect.

“It depends on his behavior,” Biden said last month when asked about debating Trump.