Biden, Trump set dates for two televised US presidential debates

US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump have agreed to hold two campaign debates — the first on June 27 hosted by CNN and the second on September 10 hosted by ABC — setting the stage for the first presidential face-off in just weeks.

Wednesday's quick agreement on the timetable to meet followed the Democrat's announcement that he will not participate in fall presidential debates sponsored by the nonpartisan commission that has organized them for more than three decades.

Biden's campaign instead proposed that media outlets directly organise the debates with the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees, with the first to be held in late June and the second in September before early voting begins.

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social site, said he was "Ready and Willing to Debate" Biden at the proposed times.

Hours later, Biden said he accepted an invitation from CNN to a debate in June, adding, "Over to you, Donald." Trump said on Truth Social he'd be there, adding, "Let's get ready to Rumble!!!" And soon after that, they agreed to the second debate on ABC.

"Trump says he'll arrange his own transportation," Biden wrote on X. "I'll bring my plane, too. I plan on keeping it for another four years."

Differences on format

Still, the two sides appeared to hold some differences on key questions of how to organise the debates, including agreeing on moderators and rules — some of the very questions that prompted the formation of the Commission on Presidential Debates in 1987.

Biden's campaign had proposed excluding third-party candidates, such as Robert F Kennedy Jr, from the debates outright. Under the debate commission’s rules, Kennedy or other third-party candidates could qualify if they secured ballot access sufficient to claim 270 Electoral Votes and polled at 15 percent or higher in a selection of national polls.

CNN said that the debate would be held in its Atlanta studios and that "no audience will be present." It said moderators and other details would be announced later. The network held open the door to Kennedy's participation if he or any other candidate met polling and ballot access requirements similar to the commission's.

As recently as Wednesday morning, Trump expressed his desire for a large live audience.

"I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds - That’s only because he doesn't get them," Trump said.

"Just tell me when, I’ll be there."

Trump has been pushing for more debates and earlier debates, arguing voters should be able to see the two men face off well before early voting begins in September.

He has repeatedly said he will debate Biden "anytime, anywhere, any place,” even proposing the two men face off outside the Manhattan courthouse where he is currently on criminal trial in a hush-money case.

He also has been taunting Biden with an empty lectern at some of his rallies.

“The debates should be conducted for the benefit of the American voters, watching on television and at home — not as entertainment for an in-person audience with raucous or disruptive partisans and donors," Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said.

”As was the case with the original televised debates in 1960, a television studio with just the candidates and moderators is a better, more cost-efficient way to proceed: focused solely on the interests of voters."

There was little love lost for the commission as well from Trump, who objected to technical issues at his first debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 and was upset after a debate with Biden was canceled in 2020 after the Republican came down with COVID-19.

The Republican National Committee had already promised not to work with commission on the 2024 contests.

The commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.