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 sees smooth road traffic on first day of holidayBasketball games boost rural development, foster sports culture56.4 pct of China's postgraduates hold professional degreesChina regulates unified medicine procurement platformsOver 1,900 criminal rings busted as China intensifies crackdown on gang crimesSpread of flu more prevalent than COVIDQinghai affected by Gansu earthquake, mobilizes multiple personnelEmergency authorities discourage ‘oneLiverpool loses 1Feature: Blind engineer opens up new vistas with computer game design