President Joe Biden said he will debate presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Trump has been calling for debates for weeks, as have a dozen major media outlets, but the Biden campaign to date has been cagey about committing to them.
Biden appeared to end that speculation during a Friday morning interview with Howard Stern.
“I am, somewhere. I don’t know when,” the president said. “I’m happy to debate him.”
Stern, a longtime New York City radio host, brought up debates as an aside, saying Biden should blast Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election if the two meet up onstage.
Biden then cut in, saying he would engage in a debate.
Since 1976, presidential elections have featured three televised debates. Biden and Trump did two in 2020, with one canceled in the wake of Trump contracting COVID-19. Trump has repeatedly agitated for debates this fall.
“I don’t know what he’s using, but that was not, hey, he was higher than a kite,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier this month, accusing Biden of taking drugs to sharpen his debate skills four years ago. Trump then added that debates with Biden “should be drug tested. I want a drug test.”
He responded to Biden’s Friday radio show appearance by doubting his sincerity but proposed the two debate outside the courthouse where he is attending his New York hush money trial.
“Everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it, but in case he does, I say, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Biden previously told reporters that his stance on debating Trump “depends on his behavior.”
That noncommittal stance prompted 12 media outlets to sign a joint statement two weeks ago calling for debates to be held ahead of the general election in November.
“With the contours of the 2024 general election now coming into clear focus, we — the undersigned national news organizations — urge the presumptive presidential nominees to publicly commit to participating in general election debates before November’s election,” the letter said.
Trump did not participate in Republican primary debates last fall but has called for more and earlier debates in the general election against Biden.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has announced dates, times, and eligibility criteria for 2024 debates. The Republican National Committee withdrew from the commission in 2022.
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During Friday’s interview, Stern gave Biden some advice on what to say onstage with Trump.
“I’d say to the audience, ‘What are we debating?’” Stern said. “A man picked up the phone and wanted to say, ‘Fake the election. Give me 11,000 votes.’ I don’t know how any American who loves this country — that’s the end of the debate. You don’t get to run if you’re going to fix an election.”
