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. |
Millie Bobby Brown, 20, goes makeDramatic moment lorry on the M56 is engulfed by flames: HGV is destroyed by raging infernoHannah Waddingham reflects on end of Ted Lasso and friendship with Jason SudeikisTwo French schoolgirls aged six and 11 are stabbed by knifeman near their schoolHigh mercury levels in some Lake Maurepas fish bring meal restrictions, state officials saySanctions won't work on solving Russia4/20 grew from humble roots to marijuana's high holidayFlames beat NHLEPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: How Pippa Middleton revealed Kate's secret chutney recipeAttack blamed on IS militants kills 22 pro