Biden says Trump demanded a debate because he ‘has nothing else to do’: President responds to rival’s challenge, saying: ‘If I were him, I’d want to debate me too’
- Former President Donald Trump said Monday that he was “officially” calling for general election debates against President Joe Biden and that they would begin now
- Biden laughed off the comments Monday afternoon in Las Vegas, saying, “If I were him, I’d want to debate me too.”
- The incumbent president added that Trump, who is still in the primary battle against Nikki Haley, has “nothing else to do”
President Joe Biden on Monday laughed off former President Donald Trump’s challenge to immediately hold presidential debates.
Biden was asked about Trump’s new comments after making a stop at No. 1 Boba Tea in Las Vegas, concluding a two-state trip to California and Nevada.
The president snapped that Trump would want to debate him because “he has nothing else to do.”
“If I were him, I’d want to debate me too,” Biden said.
Trump appeared on The Dan Bongino Show earlier Monday and told the podcaster and former Fox News host that he was “officially” calling for presidential debates to be held and that they would start sooner rather than later.
President Joe Biden told reporters Monday as he wrapped up his trip to Las Vegas that former President Donald Trump wanted to debate him because “he has nothing else to do.” “If I were him, I would want to debate me too,” the president said
Former President Donald Trump said Monday on The Dan Bongino Show that he was “officially” calling for general election debates — despite still running in the primaries against Nikki Haley
“But I would like to call for immediate debates, I would like to debate him now because we have to debate,” the ex-president and 2024 hopeful said.
Trump’s comments come as he remains embroiled in a Republican primary against rival Nikki Haley.
Haley has repeatedly called on Trump to meet her on the debate stage, including during a high-profile appearance this weekend on Saturday Night Live.
A website was set up with her campaign www.MakeTrumpDebate.com for supporters to sign a petition.
The ex-president and front-runner did not participate in the Republican debates, which started in August in Milwaukee.
Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participated in the most recent debate, which took place in January ahead of the Iowa caucuses, but the former U.N. ambassador again declined to face off with just DeSantis, prompting until two scheduled debates in New Hampshire are scrapped.
DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race two days before the New Hampshire primary, endorsing Trump on his way out and leaving only Haley.
Next, President Donald Trump (left) now debates President Joe Biden (right) on October 22, 2020 after a previous general election debate was canceled when the Commission on Presidential Debates tried to make it virtual while Trump was recovering from COVID-19
“We are thrilled to see that Donald Trump has finally recognized the importance of debates,” Haley’s spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cuba said in a statement Monday. “Now it’s time for Trump to man up and agree to a debate about Nikki Haley.”
General election debates typically don’t take place until the fall, after both parties hold their nominating conventions in the summer.
In November, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced dates and locations for the three scheduled general election debates, expected to start on September 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
The second debate is scheduled for October 1 at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia, and a third is expected to take place on October 9 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.
But those dates may not stick.
That’s because members of the Republican National Committee voted to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, suggesting the group had partisan leanings.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel called the bipartisan group “biased” and blasted it for refusing to make “simple and common sense reforms.”
The moderator of the first debate, CNN’s Chris Wallace, the longtime host of Fox News Sunday, was criticized for letting Trump steamroll Biden during the Cleveland affair, but Trump also complained about his treatment during that debate because Wallace tried to control him.
The second scheduled debate in 2020 was scrapped after the Commission on Presidential Debates called for it to be held virtually while Trump recovered from a case of COVID-19.
The then-president, who nearly died from the disease, refused to participate in the debate if it was not held in person.
A third general election debate took place on October 22 in Nashville.