Commission rejects Trump camp’s request to help broker a fourth debate with Biden
The nonpartisan commission charged with setting presidential debates has shot down the Trump campaign’s request for a conference call with Joe Biden’s camp to discuss adding a fourth debate.
In a letter Friday to Trump's personal attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the Commission on Presidential Debates declined to get involved in any discussion between the campaigns about more debates and said they needed to work it out on their own.
Biden’s campaign long ago agreed to three debates, planned for Sept. 29 in Cleveland, Oct. 15 in Miami and Oct. 22 in Nashville.
Trump eventually acquiesced, but Giuliani and campaign aides have continued to agitate for the additional debate. In his letter Wednesday, Giuliani requested the conference call between the commission and the Biden campaign to at least begin formal talks about adding the debate.
While Trump’s chances of getting another crack at Biden appear slim — he is down in the polls and having agreed to three has little leverage to negotiate — his campaign argues that people who plan to vote early deserve a chance to see the two candidates on a single stage before casting their ballots.
Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TJ Ducklo, a spokesman for Biden, said the former vice president has little appetite for getting involved in “debate drama or debate distractions” from the Trump campaign.
“We have accepted the proposal for the debates proposed by, hosted by and conducted by the nonpartisan debate commission, as has every major party nominee for decades,” Ducklo said Friday. “The last four presidents seeking reelection found the commission's debates adequate to make their case for reelection; if Donald Trump thinks he needs something different, that says more about his failed presidency than it does about the debate schedule.”
