Trump campaign calls for additional, ‘much earlier’ debates

The Trump campaign on Thursday wrote to the Commission on Presidential Debates, urging the organization to move up the timeline for planned debates between former President Trump and President Biden and to increase the number of faceoffs the two candidates have before Election Day.

The letter is the latest instance of the Trump campaign seeking to pressure Biden into debating in the fall, even as Trump skipped all of the GOP primary debates this cycle. The Trump campaign cited the start of early voting in many states as the reason to move up the timeline.

“The Commission must move up the timetable of its proposed 2024 debates to ensure more Americans have a full chance to see the candidates before they start voting, and we would argue for adding more debates in addition to those on the currently proposed schedule,” Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, the top advisers to the Trump campaign, wrote to the commission.