President Joe Biden, 81, will debate former President Donald Trump at least once, Biden campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod confirmed Wednesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
After months of speculation, Biden announced in April on the Howard Stern Show that he would debate the former president. “I am, somewhere. I am happy to debate him,” he said when asked if he would debate.
Trump immediately asked Biden to make good on his promise and suggested the event take place on live television at the Manhattan courthouse that Friday night.
Biden, who Special Counsel Robert Hur described as “an elderly man with a poor memory,” refused to take Trump up on the offer.
Speculation immediately grew that Biden did not mean what he said.
“Of course, he is not being truthful,” Outnumbered co-host Emily Compagno said. “I didn’t take it as any iota of actually meaning it. He [Biden] just says whatever comes out of his mouth. He agrees with whoever speaking around him.”
- About one-third of Democrats doubt Biden’s mental fitness, a Harvard/Harris survey recently found.
- Another poll revealed 82 percent of Americans harbor concerns about his physical and mental health.
- Only about one-third of voters say Biden is physically or mentally fit to serve a second term, Quinnipiac found.
“President Biden has made it very clear that he will be debating Donald Trump,” Elrod confirmed Wednesday.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, demanded the Commission on Presidential Debates to schedule events early and often, citing the need to preempt early voting.
The commission previously announced potential dates, venues, and requirements for the confrontation:
First presidential debate:
Monday, September 16, 2024
Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
Second presidential debate:
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA
Third presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
“While the Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate to occur later this year, we are in favor of these debates beginning much earlier,” Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote the commission.
Nearly three-fourths of voters believe if Biden skips the presidential debates, it shows “weakness,” a Fox News poll recently found.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.