Joe Biden and Donald Trump Presidential Debates Set for June and September on CNN and ABC
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Joe Biden and Donald Trump will face off in two debates ahead of this year’s presidential election. The first will air live on CNN on June 27, and the second will be hosted by ABC on Sept. 10.
Earlier in the morning, Biden posted a video on X prodding Trump to debate him. In it, Biden made fun of Trump’s ongoing criminal trial for hush money payments, referencing how Trump’s trial skips meeting on Wednesday.
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“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate,” Biden said. “Now, he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I heard you’re free on Wednesdays.”
Within the hour, Trump responded on his Truth Social platform, writing: “Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced – He can’t put two sentences together! … I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September. I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them.”
In follow-up posts, Biden and Trump each said they received and accepted invitations to debate on CNN and ABC.
The first debate will take place at 9 p.m. ET in CNN’s Atlanta studios. It will air live on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Max and CNN.com. There will not be an audience present “to ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate,” CNN said in a release. The moderators will be announced at a later date. This will be the first debate between Biden and Trump ahead of the 2024 election, where Trump is seeking to return to the White House.
CNN’s CEO Mark Thompson simultaneously announced the news at the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation Wednesday morning, saying Biden and Trump had agreed to the debate while the upfront was happening.
“Earlier this morning, I wrote to President Biden and former President Donald Trump inviting both of them to take part in a presidential debate to be broadcast and streamed on CNN from Atlanta on the 27th of June,” Thompson told the crowd. “And while this upfront has been taking place, we’ve received word from both candidates that they’ve accepted the invitation. So we’re set for the first presidential election debate of 2024. When people have something important to say, they say it on CNN.”
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