Trump says he wants to debate Biden ‘immediately.’ But will there even be a debate?

Former President Donald Trump is chomping at the bit to debate President Joe Biden — but, for a variety of reasons, it’s not clear if the pair will ever share a stage again.

“I’d like to call for, immediately, debates,” Trump said on the “The Dan Bongino Show” on Feb. 5.

“I’d like to debate him now because we should debate,” the former president, who is the far and away favorite to win the GOP nomination, said. “We should debate for the good of the country.”

But, when asked if he were open to a debate, Biden brushed off Trump’s comments.

“If I were him, I’d want to debate me too,” the president told reporters in Las Vegas on Feb. 5. “He’s got nothing else to do.”

Since 1976, every presidential election has featured multiple debates between the candidates, which have historically been hosted by the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates.

But, for several reasons, Biden and Trump may break with precedent and forgo a televised war of words.

Firstly, Biden’s re-election campaign has not publicly committed to taking part in general election debates, according to the Associated Press.

Quentin Fulks, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, told reporters in December the campaign would consider the commission’s debate schedule, which was released in November.

The schedule features three presidential debates — on Sept. 16, Oct. 1 and Oct. 9 — and one vice presidential debate on Sept. 25.

Rather than committing to those dates, Fulks said, “Right now…our focus is on making sure we continue to build out a campaign and infrastructure that’s going to be able to be competitive in 2024,” according to the Associated Press.

When pressed by reporters, Fulks shifted the focus to Trump, who did not attend any of the Republican primary debates, per the outlet.

Throwing another wrench in the debate plans is the Republican National Committee, which withdrew from the Commission on Presidential Debates in 2022.

The commission, the RNC said in a press release, “is biased and has refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage.”

In announcing the withdrawal, the RNC said it would seek out “newer, better debate platforms.”

Without the party’s partnership, it’s not clear how the general election debates would go on, according to ABC News.

Trump, though, signaled he’s committed to forging ahead with the commission’s debates

“They’re terrible. With that being said, I would do 20 debates, even if it was organized by them,” he told radio host Hugh Hewitt in December. “I’ll do as many debates as they want.”

Even if both candidates agree to debate, the events aren’t likely to sway many partisan voters, according to researchers at the University of Illinois.

“Very few supporters of one candidate upon watching will suddenly decide they are going to vote for the other candidates,” Tom Rudolph, a political science professor, said in a university news release, adding that it will be undecided voters who may be open to persuasion.

This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Trump says he wants to debate Biden ‘immediately.’ But will there even be a debate?."