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.
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 26
Guangdong avenge Shandong, seal 6th straight win
Gisele Bundchen joke from Tom Brady roast came from Drew Bledsoe's wife, ex
China Cruise Shipping Conference opens in Shenzhen
Company wins court ruling to continue development of Michigan factory serving EV industry
Chinese cars gain popularity in Botswana
Guangdong avenge Shandong, seal 6th straight win
Migrant camps spring up in gentrifying neighborhood with a Soho House and caviar
Kosovo prepares a new draft law on renting prison cells to Denmark after the first proposal failed
Willy Adames calls his shot, hits go
Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Maryland ban on rifles known as assault weapons
Shanghai Shenhua soars as Changchun Yatai struggles in Chinese Super League