Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign announced its agreement to debate President Trump three times over the remainder of the general election season. These debates were pre-scheduled before COVID-19. Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, penned a letter to the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) confirming the former vice president’s intent to participate, as well as his eventual running mate’s:
“Vice President Biden will accept and participate in the Commission’s planned Presidential candidates’ debates for September 29, October 15, and October 22; his running mate will participate in the Vice Presidential candidates’ debate set for October 7,” the letter reads. “Joe Biden looks forward to facing Donald Trump in a multi-debate series that the American people have come to expect from their leaders; we hope that President Trump would not break that tradition or make excuses for a refusal to participate.”
.@jomalleydillon: "Our position is straightforward & clear: Joe Biden will accept the Commission’s debates, on the Commission’s dates, under the Commission’s established format and the Commission’s independent choice of moderators. Donald Trump and Mike Pence should do the same."
— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) June 22, 2020
The presidential debates will take place at universities in Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee. The singular vice presidential debate will take place in Utah.
President Trump’s re-election campaign pushed for a fourth debate to be added to the schedule, but Biden’s campaign did not oblige.