Former President Donald Trump showed a willingness to accept the independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the two scheduled presidential debates with President Joe Biden, during an exclusive interview with Scripps News Service on Thursday:
In an exclusive interview with Scripps News on Thursday, former President Donald Trump said he would have “no problem” sharing the debate stage with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if the independent presidential candidate met the electoral threshold.
The comments to Scripps News political correspondent Charles Benson come a day after the Trump and Biden campaigns agreed to two individual debates. The first will be hosted by CNN on June 27th and the second will be hosted by ABC News on September 10th.
Trump told Benson that he would be open to the idea of a three-way debate in the first face-off (June) if Mr. Kennedy met the hosting network CNN’s criteria.
“I wouldn’t have a problem if he met the threshold,” Trump told Benson. “But it’s very low and seems to be going the other way, the wrong way.”
CNN announced that candidates must receive at least 15% support in four polls and appear on enough state ballots to reach 270 Electoral College votes – the number needed to win the White House.
Kennedy’s campaign says it is officially on the ballot in six states and has enough signatures to qualify for eight more.
President Biden’s campaign has released an awkwardly edited, edit-heavy 14-second commercial in which the president loudly expresses his confidence in the results of the debate.
Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. He has not appeared at a debate since.
Now he acts like he wants to debate me again.
Well, have a nice day, buddy. pic.twitter.com/AkPmvs2q4u
– Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024
The debates appear to be tightly controlled; no audience and candidates’ microphones will be turned off if candidates are not speaking. The network and its expected anchors, CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, are hardly unbiased when it comes to Trump. But turning off the microphone could actually work to Trump’s advantage, as the 2020 debates likely found the president overtalking and frequently interrupting his opponent to be off-putting to some. The lack of an audience and the distractions and feedback that come with it may at least hinder Biden less, and Trump is known for his ability to attract an audience and accept feedback from them.
See related: Future debates will be even more complicated as RFK Jr. now says he would qualify for CNN
Biden gives a snarky answer to the debate question, staff pushes out the media, debate moderators are announced
The presence of a third candidate at the debate could also give the former president an advantage. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems more like an alternative to Biden (after all, he has the advantage of not being senile) than to Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on why the Biden campaign suddenly agreed to debates with Trump; The The press spokesman did not answer the question directly.
The Biden campaign has accepted an offer from CBS Hosts the Vice Presidential Debate. Former President Trump is expected to announce his pick for vice president at the Republican National Convention in July.
