Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Biden says he’ll be ‘happy to debate’ Trump later in fall
NEW YORK — President Joe Biden said Friday that he is willing to debate his presumptive Republican opponent, Donald Trump, later this fall — his most definitive comment yet on the issue.
Trump said he was ready, though he questioned Biden’s willingness.
Biden’s comment came during an interview with the Sirius XM radio host Howard Stern, who asked him whether he would participate in debates against Trump.
“I am, somewhere. I don’t know when,” Biden said. “But I’m happy to debate him.”
So far, Biden’s reelection campaign had declined to commit to participating in the debates, a hallmark of every general election presidential campaign since 1976.
Biden himself had also been vague, saying in March that whether he debated Trump “depends on his behavior.”
The two men debated twice during the 2020 general election — a campaign year constrained significantly by COVID-19 restrictions — and Biden was notably irritated by Trump’s antics in the chaotic first debate that year.
“Will you shut up?” Biden told Trump at one point during the first debate.
Trump campaign officials have said for some time that the former president is prepared to debate Biden anytime, and Chris LaCivita, Trump campaign senior adviser, quickly responded to Biden’s remarks on the social media site X: “OK let’s set it up!”
Later Friday, Trump reacted to Biden’s new public willingness to debate by saying “everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it” but suggested either next Monday evening, Tuesday evening or Wednesday evening, when Trump will be campaigning in Michigan.
Trump did not participate in any of the GOP primary debates this cycle.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced the dates and locations for the three debates between the presidential candidates: Sept. 16 in San Marcos, Texas; Oct. 1 in Petersburg, Virginia; and Oct. 9 in Salt Lake City. The lone vice presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 25 in Easton, Pennsylvania.