Pressure is mounting on Biden to debate Trump: The ex-president’s campaign demands the primetime showdowns happen earlier as five networks urge them to take the stage and draw millions of viewers

Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to agree to a debate about Donald Trump, as the former president calls for earlier engagements and television networks urge the candidates to take the stage.

“While the Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate to take place later this year, we are in favor of these debates starting much sooner,” Trump co-campaign leaders Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita sent Thursday to The Commission on Presidential Debates.

In the letter, obtained by Fox newsthe co-managers note that “voting is starting earlier and earlier, and as we saw in 2020, tens of millions of Americans had already voted by the time of the first debate.”

But Trump is also expected to spend much of the fall in court, fighting legal challenges in Georgia state court and federal court in Florida.

There is already a detailed plan for three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate from the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan organization with leaders from both sides of the political aisle.

They have scheduled the debates for September 16, October 1 and October 9.

“By the date of the first proposed debate, September 16, 2024, more than 1 million Americans will likely have voted,” Wiles and LaCivita wrote. “By the date of the second proposed debate, October 1, 2024, the number of Americans likely to have cast a vote will be more than 3 million, an increase of 225%.”

The Trump letter comes as the major television news networks prepare a joint letter to send to Biden and Trump imploring them to participate in the debates.

The letter – from ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News – is not yet final New York Times reported, and the networks also want co-signatories from other leading national news organizations, including newspapers.

“We, the undersigned national news organizations, urge the presumptive presidential candidates to publicly commit to participating in the general election debates before the November elections,” the letter reads.

“If there’s one thing Americans can agree on in these polarized times, it’s that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the letter continues.

“There is simply no substitute for the candidates debating their visions for the nation’s future with each other and before the American people.”

Whether Biden and Trump will meet at the debate this fall remains a mystery.

Biden has not committed to a debate, but appeared open to it. He told reporters who asked him about Trump’s challenge: “It depends on his behavior.”

He also jokes about Trump: “If I were him, I’d want to debate me too. He has nothing else to do.’

His team has raised concerns about the committee’s inability to enforce the rules in the 2020 debate, especially when it came to Trump.

In their first debate, hosted by Fox News, Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden during Biden’s allotted speaking time and did not stop — even when moderator Chris Wallace urged him to do so.

At one point, Biden said to Trump, “Will you shut up, man?”

Donald Trump’s team has asked the Commission on Presidential Debates to move up the presidential debate schedule

Joe Biden’s team has raised concerns about the committee’s inability to enforce the rules in the 2020 debate, especially when it came to Donald Trump, who repeatedly interrupted Biden’s speaking time – over the two men during a debate in Cleveland in September 20202.

Additionally, Biden’s team was outraged by the inability to enforce COVID protocols surrounding the first presidential debate, which took place during the height of the pandemic.

Hope Hicks, a top Trump aide, tested positive for COVID ahead of the debate. Trump said after the debate that he was positive. The second debate was canceled because it was scheduled for a time when Trump would still be considered contagious.

Trump has previously condemned the debate committee as biased against him and at one point said he would not debate under their rules.

He has spoken out about the moderators the committee chose, complained about a technical problem with his microphone during one of the 2016 debates and refused to participate in the second debate of 2020 virtually while he was still contagious from COVID , which resulted in its cancellation.

But last month, Trump said on social media that he would debate Biden “ALWAYS, ANYWHERE, ANYWHERE.”

“It is important to the well-being of our country that Joe Biden and I debate issues so vital to Americans and the American people,” Trump wrote. ‘That’s why I call for debates, ALWAYS, EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE!’

It was a change of heart from the former president, who declined to participate in any of the Republican presidential primaries.

During the 2020 election, Biden and Trump debated twice.

More than 73 million people watched the two men in their first debate – down from the 84 million who watched Trump take on Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But presidential debates are typically among the most-watched broadcasts of the year, beating out events like the Oscars.

One television network is the host, and the event is typically simulcast on every major cable and broadcast network.

If no elections take place, this year’s elections could be the first in fifty years without a debate between the candidates for the general election.