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. |
Adames powers Brewers past Rays 8ROBERT HARDMAN: When Charles wears his TJelly Roll's exKepler hits sacrifice fly in 9th inning to lift Twins to 6We shall slight them on the beaches! Cafe on Normandy's Omaha beach stormed by the Allies during DEmerging trends for upcoming May Day holidayGreece boosts special firefighting units to cope with its growing heat riskBlake Lively is seen in firstDarvish earns 1st win of season and Machado hits 3China highway collapse kills 19 in Guangdong