Why are CNN and ABC organizing the Trump - Biden debate? Return to the TV studio format
Typically it’s been the Commission on Presidential Debates that has sponsored the televised encounters between candidates, but not this year. Why?
This year the debates between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be sponsored by CNN and ABC instead of the Commission on Presidential Debates which has done so since 1988 taking the format back to its beginnings. The first televised presidential debates, and the first debates between candidates vying for the White House, took place in 1960 and were held in TV studios.
That will be the format for CNN’s debate on Thursday, the first of two that are scheduled to take place in 2024, where Biden and Trump will face off in a studio at the network’s Atlanta headquarters. The second hosted by ABC will be held on 10 September. But how was it decided that just these two networks would have the honor?
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Why are CNN and ABC organizing the Trump - Biden debate?
The Commission had scheduled 2024 presidential debates for September and October. However, in May the Biden-Harris Campaign said it would not participate in the those sponsored by the nonpartisan commission. Instead, the campaign proposed that the debates be directly organized by media outlets.
Biden accepted an offer from CNN to sponsor a debate soon after and took to social media to challenge his opponent for the White House. Trump responded, “Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!” Within a span of hours, the two rival campaigns had agreed to not just one but two debates, with ABC hosting the second.
The fact that it was CNN and ABC was more a matter of luck than any predetermined setup. As well that they were quicker on their feet than their rivals according to reporting in the New York Times.
Representatives from both networks told the news outlet that even executives were caught off guard by the announcement. That said, networks had be preparing contingency plans in the event the candidates went outside the commission’s format. Some appear to just have been better prepared than others.