For the 2024 election, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both agreed on the importance of participating in debates, despite their differing opinions on many other issues. The debates were announced quickly after Biden’s campaign outlined its criteria for participating, which included moving up the schedule by three months and avoiding sharing a stage with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump’s campaign also wanted an earlier schedule and more debates.
The decision to hold debates earlier in the campaign season was seen as beneficial for both candidates and American voters. The Biden campaign believed that an accelerated start to the general election campaign would force Americans to reckon with the potential return of Trump to the White House. Both campaigns expressed frustration at the Commission on Presidential Debates and its proposed schedule of debates beginning in mid-September.
In recent weeks, Trump advisers had discussed ways to circumvent the commission in order to have the type of debates they preferred. Both Biden and Trump’s teams had reservations about the commission’s debate format, and both believed that earlier debates would be more effective in reaching voters before they made a decision on their votes. Biden’s declaration to Howard Stern that he was willing to debate Trump helped spur the chain of events leading up to the announcement of the debates.
Debate preparation will be a challenge for both Biden and Trump, with Biden juggling a heavy campaign travel schedule and two foreign trips while Trump deals with legal issues, including the conclusion of his New York hush money trial. Trump has made debating Biden a key part of his campaign strategy, mocking Biden’s refusal to answer debate calls during rallies and encouraging surrogates to emphasize Trump’s readiness to debate.
Despite quickly accepting invitations from CNN and ABC to debate, neither campaign seemed entirely certain that the debates would actually occur. The logistical challenges and political considerations could still forestall an eventual debate. Both campaigns had little interest in debating third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is viewed as a potential threat to both Biden and Trump’s support base, with uncertainty over which candidate he might draw votes from.
