In an unprecedented move, the five major broadcast and cable news networks have jointly prepared an open letter urging President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump to participate in televised debates before Election Day. The letter, endorsed by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News, highlights the importance of presidential debates as a vital civic ritual in a polarized age and calls on the presumptive nominees to commit publicly to participating in the debates scheduled for September and October. While Mr. Biden has declined to confirm his participation, citing concerns about enforcement of rules when Mr. Trump takes the stage, Mr. Trump has vowed to debate and has taunted Mr. Biden for not following suit.
The letter, organized in response to the uncertainty surrounding the debates, emphasizes the rich tradition of general election debates in American democracy, serving as a competition of ideas and a platform for candidates to present their visions to the American people. The televised debates have been a staple of the presidential campaign cycle for the past 50 years and have attracted tens of millions of viewers in each election. The networks are seeking endorsements from other leading national news organizations and stress the importance of candidates debating each other face to face before the American people.
If no debates were to occur this year, it would mark a significant departure from the modern presidential campaign cycle, where debates have become the most-watched moments. In an era of increasingly partisan media, the debates offer a unique opportunity for candidates to spar directly without the presence of spin doctors or pundits. Despite the Biden campaign not ruling out agreeing to the debates, it does not see an advantage in publicly committing to participate this early in the year. The Trump campaign has capitalized on Mr. Biden’s reluctance and has called for debates “ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE,” emphasizing the importance of debating issues vital to America and the American people.
Mr. Biden’s team was incensed at the proceedings during the first 2020 presidential debate in Cleveland, where Mr. Trump frequently talked over Mr. Biden and refused to follow the moderator’s instructions. This chaotic debate led to rule tweaks for the final debate, allowing a producer to mute each candidate’s microphone while their rival was speaking. Several of Mr. Biden’s advisers have been critics of the Commission on Presidential Debates, advocating for a restructuring of the debate format to reflect modern media dynamics. Mr. Trump has accused the commission of bias and interference and previously supported a Republican Party pledge to boycott future debates organized by the commission.
The format of the presidential debates has remained largely unchanged since the first televised debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. Despite a decline in viewership for other mass media events, the debates continue to draw in enormous audiences, with Mr. Trump’s debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016 being the highest rated on record. In 2020, an average of 68 million people watched the Biden-Trump debates, surpassing audiences for political conventions or a State of the Union address. The letter from the networks stresses the need for candidates to debate with each other and present their visions for the nation’s future before the American people.
