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.
Independent UN experts urge Yemen’s Houthis to free detained Baha'i followers
WNBA will pay for flights for playoffs and back
Idaho can enforce ban on gender
Paris Hilton backs California bill to bring more transparency to youth treatment facilities
Pentagon vows to keep weapons moving to Ukraine as Kyiv faces a renewed assault by Russia
Idaho can enforce ban on gender
Hawks' Trae Young says he feels better after late
'Goal' Palmer scores four in 6
Analysis: Larson enters conversation with Verstappen as best drivers in the world
Lloyd Omdahl, a former North Dakota lieutenant governor and newspaper columnist, dies at 93
Kate Hudson hits the stage to debut songs from her new album Glorious at star
Chinese organization to boost recycling of renewable resources