Trump and Biden upend the presidential debates
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Trump and Biden debating in 2020. Photo: Morry Gash/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
In a whirlwind few hours, President Biden and former President Trump have upended the traditional presidential debates — and moved to box out RFK Jr.
Why it matters: Both Biden and Trump are genuinely convinced the country will side with them after seeing the two of them on stage together.
- Trump doesn't believe Biden has the mental or physical stamina for the job.
- Biden thinks people will recoil at Trump's behavior and rhetoric.
To catch you up on today's rapid-fire back and forth:
- Biden's campaign announced this morning it wouldn't take part in fall debates by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. It offered one-on-one debates with Trump in June and September, with no studio audience and microphones that could be cut.
- Trump immediately accepted, telling Salem Media radio host Hugh Hewitt he'll debate with any moderator.
- Biden and Trump accepted a CNN invite for a debate on June 27, the two candidates said this morning. That's before either party has its national convention to officially pick presidential nominees.
- The Trump campaign then proposed extra debates in July and August.
- RFK Jr. then accused the two campaigns of "colluding" against his campaign to "avoid discussion of their eight years of mutual failure."
- Trump and Biden then accepted invites from ABC News for a debate on Sept. 10.
- Trump also said that he accepted a debate with Fox News on Oct. 2.
Zoom in: The campaigns have agreed to no audience for the CNN debate, but they're still negotiating on how to handle cutting off microphones.
- CNN announced Wednesday that its news anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the June 27th debate.
- The Trump and Biden campaigns recently held back-channel conversations about cutting the Commission on Presidential Debates out of the process, the Washington Post reports.
The bottom line: RFK Jr. had a real chance at making the presidential debate stage for the traditional fall debates but could be cut out by the moved-up timelines of the new contests.
- CNN's rules say a candidate needs four polls at 15% and they have to be on the ballot in enough states to secure 270 electoral votes.
- Kennedy recently scored one poll at 16%, CNN's Harry Enten pointed out earlier this week.
- Kennedy is on the ballot in four states, with ongoing efforts in 38 more.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the moderators for CNN's debate.
