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US President Joe Biden said he was “happy” to debate Donald Trump, after weeks of uncertainty over whether the two leading candidates in the race for the White House would respect the tradition of a face-to-face meeting television.
In an interview with US radio host Howard Stern on Friday, Biden said he was willing to debate the former Republican president, even as he called him a threat to the country’s democracy.
“I don’t know when, I’m happy to debate him,” Biden told Stern during the interview in New York. Trump and Biden debated during the 2020 presidential campaign, as has been the norm for decades, but doubts have loomed over their appetite for another run in 2024.
Trump has refused to debate any of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination in 2023 and earlier this year, and has often criticized networks and presidential debate moderators. Biden had only said Friday whether he would be willing to participate, casting doubt on his desire for a direct televised confrontation.
But Trump increasingly pressured Biden to debate him, forcing the president’s hand. On Friday, after Biden said he was available to debate, Trump responded that he might even do so immediately Friday night or next week.
“Everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it, but in case he does, I say anywhere, anytime, anywhere, an old expression used by fighters,” wrote Trump on Truth Social, between appearances in a New York courtroom where he is on trial and faces criminal charges for falsifying business records to improve his political prospects.
In recent US elections, there have been three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate, during the final weeks of the campaign and usually in September or October.
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the first presidential debate would be held at Texas State University on September 16, the second at Virginia State University on October 1, and the third on October 9 at the University of Utah.
But the Trump and Biden campaigns could agree to set their own schedule, choose the format and moderators — and decide to debate much earlier than usual.
