After spending most of his campaign thus far shunning debates, former President Donald Trump said this week that he would return to the debate stage for at least one person: President Joe Biden.
He told Laura Ingraham during a Tuesday Fox News Town Hall that he’ll have to debate his former challenger if the two end up head to head again this year during the presidential election. Both are currently the frontrunners to be the nominees of their respective parties.
“Frankly, I think we have an obligation. When you have the final Republican, the final Democrat, you have the two people, you have to debate regardless of polls,” Trump said.
According to Quinnipiac poll results released Wednesday, Biden held a small lead against Trump among an overall sample of registered voters. At the same time, recent polls have shown that Trump has a narrow lead in several key swing states, said The Hill.
Although people have questioned whether Biden’s age (81) is too advanced for a presidential nominee, he only has one challenger (Rep. Dean Philips of Minnesota) for the nomination. Trump has a massive lead over his lone remaining challenger, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, according to FiveThirtyEight. While he has a strong lead, Trump also faces a mountain of legal challenges, that threaten his campaign.
Trump ditched GOP debates when the larger field of candidates was vying to be the Republican nominee. Both Trump and Haley dropped out of debates last month, leading ABC and CNN to cancel them.
“The explanation for his desire to duck Ms. Haley is obvious. The 77-year-old Mr. Trump thinks he’d look like a vigorous young buck next to the 81-year-old Mr. Biden. Yet he’s afraid of drawing the reverse contrast with Ms. Haley, who’s 52,” said an opinion piece published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, Trump told Ingraham that he would be willing to do as many debates as necessary once he’s the GOP nominee. Per The Hill, there are three presidential debates scheduled beginning in September for the 2024 election.
“I would like to do it starting now,” Trump said. “I don’t think [Biden’s] going to debate though. I really don’t think so.”