PHOENIX (AP) — The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has planned presidential faceoffs in every election since 1988, has an uncertain future after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump struck an agreement to meet on their own.
The Biden and Trump campaigns announced a deal Wednesday to meet for debates in June on CNN and September on ABC. Just a day earlier, Frank Fahrenkopf, chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, had sounded optimistic that the candidates would eventually come around to accepting the commission’s debates.
“There’s no way you can force anyone to debate,” Fahrenkopf said in a virtual meeting of supporters of No Labels, which has continued as an advocacy group after it abandoned plans for a third-party presidential ticket. But he noted candidates have repeatedly toyed with skipping debates or finding alternatives before eventually showing up, though one was canceled in 2020 when Trump refused to appear virtually after he contracted COVID-19.
Crackdown on killer boy racers: Partner of pregnant Hollyoaks star Frankie Jules
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sues for defamation over National Enquirer, InTouch Weekly stories
Prince William reveals he 'keeps an eye' on Ukraine as he meets woman from the war
Minnesota Uber and Lyft driver pay package beats deadline to win approval in Legislature
Intel exec on bringing artificial intelligence into the workplace
Replacement of Milwaukee election official unrelated to 2020 election
Notorious people smuggler wanted in Europe arrested in northern Iraq
I repeatedly bail out my partner from his financial messes
Yu Darvish extends scoreless innings streak to 25 in Padres' 9
A US museum curator was detained in Turkey on claims of spider smuggling. He says he has permits