Biden and Trump agree to 2 debates, starting in June

Joe Biden and Donald Trump debate in 2020

The debates are "meant to jolt Americans to attention sooner than later about their consequential choice in 2024"

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)

published 16 May 2024

What happened

President Joe Biden and Donald Trump agreed Wednesday to meet for two televised presidential debates before the November election, ending months of speculation. CNN will host the first debate on June 27. ABC will host the second one Sept. 10. Neither will have a live audience.

"Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020," and "now he is acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal," Biden said in a video. "I hear you're free on Wednesdays." Trump replied he is "ready and willing" to debate, calling Biden "the WORST debater I have ever faced" who now can't even "put two sentences together."

Biden's June debate proposal, "swiftly accepted" after weeks of "back-channel talks," was "meant to jolt Americans to attention sooner than later about their consequential choice in 2024," The New York Times said. It amounted to a "public acknowledgment" by Biden "that he is trailing in his re-election bid." Trump "has a lot at stake here too," because a good Biden performance could allay age concerns and "change the dynamic of the race," Democratic strategist David Axelrod told The Washington Post. But early debates might help either candidate, "because if they don't go well, you can recover from them."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.