Biden, Trump campaigns battle over topics for first presidential debate
The respective campaigns of President Biden and former President Donald Trump are clashing over which issues they would like to see emphasized at next month’s scheduled first presidential debate.
The two prospective major party nominees are set to meet head-to-head in Atlanta June 27, with the showdown moderated by CNN “State of the Union” co-hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
While the moderators are ultimately responsible for finalizing the topics that will be covered and questions that will be asked, both campaigns have already put together a wish list.
Biden’s team has said the Democrat wants to talk about three things: Trump’s role in the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, his insistence that the 2020 election was rigged against him, and the 45th president’s economic plan — which the president’s re-election effort argues “would make [Trump] and his friends richer and jack up costs for the middle class.”
Biden 2024 campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon highlighted those topics in a statement sent out last week, while communications director Michael Tyler reiterated the issues again during a Tuesday press conference in front of the Manhattan courthouse where Trump is standing trial on charges of falsifying business records.
“It’s no surprise that weak, dishonest Joe Biden wants to avoid debate topics that force him to answer for his failed record,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post Wednesday.
“Voters want a president who will stop Biden’s Bloodbath at the southern border, enforce law and order in our crime-ridden cities, lower prices on housing, gas, and groceries, and put America first. Weak Joe Biden won’t be able to gaslight Americans on live TV when President Trump calls him out for putting Americans last on June 27.”
The CNN debate’s qualifying guidelines mandate that candidates are on enough ballots to receive 270 electoral votes and receive a minimum of 15% in qualifying polls.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has yet to qualify, a CNN spokesperson told The Post on Wednesday, but has until June 20 to do.
Kennedy filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against the network, alleging CNN purposefully created untouchable benchmarks to exclude him from the debate, since Biden had said he would only do one-on-one forums with Trump.
Biden and Trump have also agreed to a debate on Sep. 10 hosted by ABC News. Both have also suggested a vice presidential debate debate to be held sometime this summer, but have yet to come to an agreement.
The president’s team suggested the VP forum be hosted by CBS News, while Trump countered with a demand the prospective veeps debate on Fox News.
Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez told The Post Thursday there has been “no movement” since the initial proposals.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
