Trump campaign managers criticize Commission on Presidential Debates for following original debate schedule

CNN
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Former President Donald Trump’s campaign managers on Tuesday criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates after the commission told Fox News it would stick to its original debate schedule despite calls from the Trump campaign to move up the dates and add more. debates.

Trump campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement that they were extending an invitation to “every television network in America that wants to host a debate” and asked President Joe Biden’s campaign to coordinate with them. to establish a debate “as soon as possible.”

For weeks, Republicans have been urging that the debates between Trump and Biden take place, and as soon as possible.

“The Presidential Debate Commission calendar only begins after millions of Americans have already voted. This is unacceptable and, by refusing to move forward in the debates, they are doing a serious disservice to the American public, who deserve to hear from both candidates before voting begins,” reads the statement from LaCivita and Wiles.

“President Trump has declared that he will debate Joe Biden anytime, anywhere, and Joe Biden himself just agreed to debate. We are committed to making this happen with or without the Presidential Debate Commission,” they added. “We extend an invitation to all television networks in America who wish to host a debate and once again call on Joe Biden’s team to work with us to organize one as quickly as possible. The American people deserve it.”

CNN reached out to the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The commission told Fox News on Tuesday that it was following its original timeline and said: “The C.P.D. […] will be applied at the beginning of September; thereafter, the Commission will extend debate invitations to qualified candidates.”

“The CPD is proceeding with production and broadcast plans at its four debate venues, as also announced on November 20, 2023,” the commission’s statement reads, according to Fox News.

The Republican National Committee has encouraged representatives to pressure Biden to debate Trump in television interviews. And Trump and his team have issued several statements making almost original arguments about how the former president is ready to debate Biden anytime, anywhere.

The subtext of these appeals points to the contrast that Trump and Republicans hope to draw with Biden: that the former president is energetic and willing to take the stage, while Biden is less so.

But Biden recently said in an interview with Howard Stern that he would be “happy to debate” Trump. Previously, he was wrong, saying that this would depend on the former president’s behavior.

Trump has had a spotty debate history since he emerged onto the presidential campaign scene. There were times, like in 2016, when he was eager to debate his rivals. In the 2024 Republican primaries, however, the GOP favorite skipped all the debates and still ended up winning the party’s nomination.

Two years ago, the RNC voted decisively to withdraw from debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, after months in which then-chairwoman Ronna McDaniel pressured the commission to make changes to the debates in response to Trump’s complaints.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Daniel Strauss contributed to this report.