WASHINGTON: Incumbent President Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreed on Wednesday to hold the first presidential debate in June. The Democrat president challenged his rival to “make my day” and the scandal-plagued Republican promptly responded that he was ready to “rumble.”

CNN announced it plans to host the first debate on the 27 of June, in Atlanta (Georgia). Biden proposed a second debate in September and Trump accepted.

Joe Biden, who is now aged 81, had set out ‘his own terms’ for the debates with ‘political showman’ Trump. The terms relate to the time limits for speakers and the fact that debates will have no live audience (a condition CNN says it has agreed to).

Biden has sought to exercise control over the format. In his first formal debate offer after months of ‘stalling’, the Democrat shunned the traditional calendar proposed by the commission, which has run debates since the year 1988.

Trump, who is now 77, accepted the dates, despite setting out a ‘starkly different’ vision. Trump was in favor of a larger venue for “excitement purposes” and accused the Democrat of being “afraid of crowds”.

“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal,” Biden stated in a video on the social media platform, X. “I’ll even do it twice.”

Biden did not hold back from ‘trolling’ Trump over his ongoing criminal hush money trial in New York, which features a mid-week break. Biden added: “So let’s pick the dates Donald”. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.“

In a statement CNN stated that the debate would be held at its studios in Atlanta, in the “crucial battleground state of Georgia.” “To ensure candidates will be able to maximize the time allotted in the debate, no audience will be present. Moderators for the debate and additional details will be announced at a later date” the statement read.

Biden’s offer for the debate, appeared to show him taking a calculated risk ‘of putting Trump back into American living rooms’, ahead of November’s Presidential election. Biden is hopeful it may reverse the Republican’s poll lead, in a number of battleground states.

The Biden campaign has increasingly been trying to ‘remind’ voters of what they say is the ‘true face’ of the mercurial former president, who lost the race to the White House, in 2020. What Biden campaign fears, is Trump “nostalgia” in certain quarters, even as the Republican details his stark vision for an authoritarian second term in various interviews.

‘Will you shut up?’

For his part, Trump previously stated he would debate his rival “anytime, anywhere”. Trump seeks to portray Biden as ‘old and incapable’ of ‘leadership’.

After Biden’s challenge, Trump (who avoided any debates with his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination this year) said he was “ready to Rumble!!!” for the proposed June and September debates. He described Biden as the “WORST debater I have ever faced” and added: “I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds.” The 2020 debates between the two candidates famously featured Biden saying “will you shut up, man?” (when Trump repeatedly talked over him).

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2024