Biden campaign REFUSES to commit to the 2024 presidential debates: Top official says they will look at 81-year-old’s schedule and will have ‘conversations’
- A senior Biden campaign official remained cagey about President Joe Biden’s participation in the 2024 general election debates.
- First Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks was asked about the three debates now that the Commission on Presidential Debates has released the schedule
- Fulks said, “We will have those conversations,” while pointing out that the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, skipped the primary debate.
A senior Biden campaign official on Wednesday sidestepped President Joe Biden’s participation in the general election debate.
Quentin Fulks, the Biden-Harris campaign’s top deputy manager, was asked whether the president would be willing to participate now that the Commission on Presidential Debates has released the schedule.
Fulks, former Alabama Democratic Sen. Doug Jones and Alabama State Rep. Barbara Drummond held a news conference in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the fourth Republican primary debate will be held on the University of Alabama campus later Wednesday evening.
“At the end of the day, our focus is on creating the campaign. We will have those conversations,” Fulks said.
When a reporter noted that it sounded like a “no,” Fulks revised his statement but still did not commit Biden to the three scheduled debates.
Quentin Fulks (R), the Biden-Harris campaign’s top deputy manager, remained cagey about President Joe Biden’s participation in the general election debate during a briefing for reporters in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump (left) and President Joe Biden (right) shared the debate stage twice in 2020, with Trump bowing out of the second general election debate when the Commission on Presidential Debates wanted it to be held virtually after his case about COVID.
“No, I said the campaign will look at the schedule, we’re going to have that conversation, but for now we’re focused on building the campaign and the infrastructure while the Republicans remain in a divisive primary. where their leader is not in the debate, our campaign is focused on what we need to do to win the election,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party leader, skipped all four GOP primary debates, instead offering counter-programs.
This time, Trump decided to headline a town hall with Fox News correspondent Sean Hannity instead of attending Tuesday night.
At the same time, the former president said he wants to debate Biden.
“We need to have a discussion,” he told Fox News’ Bret Baier during their June interview. “He and I should definitely discuss this. This is what I love. The two of us will have to argue.
Trump and Biden met face-to-face on stage twice in 2020.
Trump, however, pulled out of the second scheduled general election debate because the Commission on Presidential Debates wanted to hold it virtually in the wake of Trump’s COVID-19 case.
The then president refused.
Last month, the Commission on Presidential Debates, the longtime bipartisan presidential debate planning group, announced Sept. 16, Oct. 1 and Oct. 9 as the 2024 debate dates.
The three debates will be held at Texas State University in San Marcos, Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia, and Utah State University in Salt Lake City.
The vice presidential debate will take place on September 25 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
While Trump, if he wins the GOP nomination, may be interested in participating, the Republican National Committee has criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates for the group’s handling of the 2020 debates and pushing for the GOP candidate not to participate.
Democrats have also expressed dissatisfaction with the Commission on Presidential Debates, accusing it of not adhering to its own rules when it came to Trump’s behavior.