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. |
China calls for efforts to promote Colombia's national developmentChinese women's national football team seeks head coachUN urges trillions in investments to salvage global goalsTrojan horse or unproven fears? Into U.S. demonization of Chinese manufacturingWorld Insights: WTO members confront U.S. abuse of security exception for protectionist purposeU.S. Summit for Democracy fans flame of confrontation to tumultuate worldAsia's first deep water jacket HaijiGlobal trade to rebound by 2.6 pct in 2024: WTO reportAsia's first deep water jacket HaijiAsian economy expected to increase 4.5 percent in 2024: report