Will Joe Biden and Donald Trump debate this fall? News outlets call on candidates to compete

Twelve news organizations called on the presumptive nominees for president – President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump – to commit to participating in the scheduled 2024 general election debates in a joint statement Sunday.

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high. Amidst that backdrop, there is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation,” the news outlets, including USA TODAY, wrote in the joint statement.

“General election debates have a rich tradition in our American democracy, having played a vital role in every presidential election of the past 50 years, dating to 1976. In each of those elections, tens of millions have tuned in to watch the candidates debating side by side, in a competition of ideas for the votes of American citizens.”

While the letter did not name any specific candidates, Biden and Trump locked down their party's nominations earlier this year.

The list of outlets that signed onto the letter also included ABC News, The Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX News Media, NBCUniversal News Group, NewsNation, Noticias Univision (Univision Network News), NPR and PBS NewsHour.

Three presidential forums, scheduled by the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, are set to kick off at Texas State University in San Marco, Texas, on Sept. 16. The second debate is scheduled to be held at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia, on Oct. 1, and the final debate before the 2024 election will take place at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah on Oct. 9. Virginia State University is the first historically Black college or university to host a presidential debate.

Trump's reelection campaign formally asked the Commission on Presidential Debates on Thursday to move up its fall schedule as soon as possible.

"President Trump is willing to debate anytime, anyplace, and anywhere – and the time to start these debates is now," a letter from the Trump campaign said.

Trump had refused to debate his opponents in the Republican primary.

Biden’s campaign had not yet committed to any debates, but on Thursday said that Trump is playing politics with his request. Biden’s campaign reiterated a comment the president made in February: "If I were him, I’d want to debate me, too. He’s got nothing else to do."

The outlets in their Sunday statement noted that, though it is too early for invitations to be extended to any candidates, “it is not too early for candidates who expect to meet the eligibility criteria to publicly state their support for — and their intention to participate in — the Commission’s debates planned for this fall.”

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Major outlets call on Donald Trump, Joe Biden to commit to debates