Trump issues ‘no holds barred’ debate challenge to Biden

Donald Trump has challenged Joe Biden to a “no holds barred” debate while the White House and the Democratic officials scramble to respond to the president’s flailing performance at their first 2024 matchup last week.

“I have the answer to the Crooked Joe Biden Incompetence Puzzle — Let’s do another Debate, but this time, no holds barred,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social during the Fourth of July holiday.

“An all on discussion, with just the two of us on stage, talking about the future of our Country,” he added. “The ratings were massive for the First Debate, record setting, in fact, but this one, because of the format, would blow everything away!”

The two men have already agreed to at least one more debate before Election Day. The next debate is set to be hosted by ABC and will air on Tuesday, September 10.

CBS has also invited both campaigns to participate in a vice presidential debate on either July 23 or August 13. Biden’s campaign has accepted, but Trump has not yet announced a running mate.

Biden’s performance at their June 27 matchup has fuelled concerns about his age, fitness and whether he should end his re-election campaign altogether.

Editorial boards for several major American newspapers have called on him to drop out, and so have several sitting Democratic members of Congress and prominent allies. Others have urged his campaign and the Democratic Party to seriously confront the nosediving poll numbers and growing concerns about the president’s age and future.

Biden, however, has repeatedly insisted that he isn’t going anywhere, and his campaign and the White House have shot down any suggestions that he is in talks about his political viability as “false.”

“I’m the Democratic Party’s nominee,” he said in a fundraising email this week. “No one is pushing me out. I’m not leaving, I’m in this race to the end, and WE are going to win this election.”

Trump said their “no holds barred” debate would “be yet another test for me.”

“What a great evening it would be, just the two of us, one on one, in a good, old fashioned Debate, the way they used to be. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!!!” he added.