Topline
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he wants to debate President Joe Biden in the run-up to the November election, despite dodging a string of Republican primary debates, though Trump has made a habit of mocking Biden’s advanced age as part of his argument he might be in better shape to be president.
Former President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would debate President Joe Biden.
Key Facts
Trump called for debates “ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE” in a post on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon, saying he would opt into a debate run by the “Corrupt” Democratic National Convention.
The former president on the right-wing “Dan Bongino Show” had previously called for a debate, while Biden hit back at Trump, saying: “Well, if I were him, I’d want to debate me too. He’s got nothing else to do.”
Chief Critic
Biden struck back at Trump again after the former president’s plea for a debate, with Biden saying: “I know Donald Trump’s thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond the MAGA base—and that’s a conversation we’ll have at the appropriate time in this cycle.” Biden also chided Trump, saying if the former president is “so desperate to see President Biden in prime time,” he can watch the State of the Union Thursday night.
Key Background
Following speculation, Trump confirmed in a Truth Social post last August that he would bow out of Republican debates, pointing to a CBS poll that found him 46 points ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with Trump writing bluntly: “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES.” Rather than participating in the first debate, Trump sat down for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, telling the former prime-time host he did not want to be “harassed” by candidates “who shouldn’t even be running.” Trump blew off a second debate in September, instead giving a speech to the United Auto Workers union. He skipped a third debate in November, in which his competitors slammed him for his no-show.
Big Number
Five points. That’s how much Trump leads Biden in a likely re-match of the 2020 election, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week—Trump’s largest lead in a Times poll in any of his three presidential campaigns. Roughly 48% of registered voters said they would support Trump in that matchup, over 43% for Biden.
Surprising Fact
In Trump’s post on Wednesday, the former president said he would enter a debate run by the DNC or the Commission on Presidential Debates, a bipartisan organization Trump has chastised in all three of his campaigns. In 2020, Trump threatened to skip the commission’s debates, having previously argued the fact that the commission’s co-chair was also former President Bill Clinton’s press secretary (its other co-chair formerly directed the Republican National Committee). The RNC took it a step further in 2022, voting to withdraw future GOP nominees from the bipartisan commission, calling the organization “biased.”
Further Reading
Trump Opens Largest-Ever Lead In New York Times Polling (Forbes)
