Citing pandemic, Trump campaign asks for earlier presidential debate
WASHINGTON (SBG) — President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has requested a fourth debate be scheduled ahead of when Americans start voting in the 2020 election.
Trump’s and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s have already agreed to three debates, the earliest of which is scheduled for Sept. 29. In a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, Trump’s campaign said it doesn’t make sense for voters to be deprived of seeing the two candidates debate before ballots are cast.
“Simply put, the Commission’s current approach is an outdated dinosaur and not reflective of voting realities in 2020,” the letter by Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York and Trump campaign representative, says.
If a fourth debate cannot be added, the letter asks the commission to move up the final debate scheduled for Oct. 22 to the first week in September.
“Certainly former Vice President Biden would agree with the need to avoid having millions of Americans disenfranchised by not being able to see and hear the two major party candidates debate before they have ballots in-hand, and our suggestions for location and moderators shows a spirit of cooperation the Commission should be able to agree to,” the letter says.
Biden’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but Biden deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield said in a tweet Trump's campaign hasn't committed to the original three debates in writing.
Three presidential debates are scheduled for Sept. 29 in Cleveland, Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee. A vice presidential debate is also scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is expected to be a substantial surge in voting by mail. Delays in delivery have plagued the United States Postal Service, so voters are being encouraged to send their ballots in as early as possible.
Giuliani’s letter says as many as 8 million people in 16 states will have already started voting by the time of the first scheduled debate.
The Trump campaign also gave a list of two dozen journalists to be considered as moderators. It includes Fox News hosts Harris Faulkner and Shannon Bream, “Today” host Hoda Kotb and “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir, among others.
The Commission on Presidential Debates didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
