By The FirstBoth Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s campaign officially accepted an invitation by CNN for a presidential debate to be held on June 27th.
From CNN:
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have both accepted an invitation from CNN to debate on June 27, a historically early showdown that will set the tone for the final months of the 2024 campaign.
“I’ve received and accepted an invitation from @CNN for a debate on June 27th. Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place,” Biden said in a post on X.
A Trump campaign official later told CNN that Trump had accepted the offer.
The news is the latest development in a quickly escalating tit-for-tat over debates between the two political rivals. Biden’s campaign earlier called on Trump to join him for two presidential debates hosted by news organizations and formally informed the Commission on Presidential Debates that the president will not participate in its previously scheduled fall debates. The former president quickly said he was on board with earlier debates and told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would accept any moderator.
Biden only recently said that he was happy to debate Trump, though he was non-committal on the format of such a debate, telling radio host Howard Stern, “I’m happy to debate him.” In a social media video and a subsequent letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, Biden’s campaign laid out its proposed terms, including possible debate dates in June and September.
The video of Biden speaking directly to a camera released Wednesday morning was a more direct challenge.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again,” Biden said in a direct-to-camera video released Wednesday.
