PHOENIX (AP) — The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has planned presidential faceoffs in every election since 1988, has an uncertain future after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump struck an agreement to meet on their own. The Biden and Trump campaigns announced a deal Wednesday to meet for debates in June on CNN and September on ABC. Just a day earlier, Frank Fahrenkopf, chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, had sounded optimistic that the candidates would eventually come around to accepting the commission’s debates. “There’s no way you can force anyone to debate,” Fahrenkopf said in a virtual meeting of supporters of No Labels, which has continued as an advocacy group after it abandoned plans for a third-party presidential ticket. But he noted candidates have repeatedly toyed with skipping debates or finding alternatives before eventually showing up, though one was canceled in 2020 when Trump refused to appear virtually after he contracted COVID-19. |
First loss shouldn't take away from Jaime Munguia's potentialMan United defender Harry Maguire out for the rest of the Premier League season through injuryI did everything right but still almost died on a bushwalk. Here's how I survivedMAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: If the Tories hold their nerve, millions could still return to the fold'Violent' leader of Columbia University's antiSalah scores as Liverpool beats Tottenham 4Southern California women sweep UCLA 3Could your doctor be GOOGLING you? Calls for crack down on unspoken habitMan United defender Harry Maguire out for the rest of the Premier League season through injuryBayern Munich left back Raphaël Guerreiro ruled out against Real Madrid with ankle injury