POLITICS
When will President Biden and former President Trump debate?
Both candidates say that they will debate the other should they be selected as their parties nominee. Would would these debates take place?
This primary election cycle has been a bit of a snoozefest, given that most voters have accepted that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will lead the tickets for their respective parties. Many remember in anguish as the two faced off in a series of debates in 2020, and it looks like those horrors will be repeated this year, with both candidates confirming their willingness to debate the other.
Breaking from tradition, the Biden campaign has proposed a fourth debate, set to take place in June. This unexpected move, which was accepted by Donald Trump this week, could significantly alter the course of the presidential race. If the plan comes to fruition, these debates will unfold in the summer, preceding the parties’ conventions and solidifying the two men as the official candidates for the November election.
The fact that both campaigns have agreed does not mean the debates will occur. No dates have been made public, and there will be plenty of details to work out, including who is moderating, the topics covered, and how it will be broadcast to the public. If the campaigns cannot agree on these points or are uninterested in putting another debate on the calendar, they could use disagreements to back out while saving (some) face.
When will the regularly scheduled debates take place?
Texas State University in San Marcos will host the first debate between the two presidential candidates on Monday, 16 September. The second will occur in Petersburg, Virginia, and at the Virginia State University on Tuesday, 1 October. The final debate, which is often one of the last chances for the public to hear from the candidates in a substantive fashion, will be hosted a little over a week later at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, 9 October.
Who are the vice presidential nominees?
The only vice presidential debate on the schedule will take place on Wednesday, September 25, at Lafayette College in Eaton, Pennsylvania.
Presidnet Biden has not announced a change to his vice presidential pick, Kamala Harris, with most party insiders assuming she will join him on the ballot in November. As for who Donald Trump will select as his running mate, many names are being thrown around. Recently, the most notable on that list is South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whose recent memoir included an anecdote about killing her dog Cricket that has horrified voters and the pundit class on both sides of the aisle. The book also initially contained a story about meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which fact-checkers said never happened, forcing the South Dakota leader to remove the section.