Former President and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump is ready to debate again.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday afternoon, the 45th president looking to become the 47th posted "IT'S TIME FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN AND I TO DEBATE," renewing his challenge to the incumbent to face him on stage.
The dare to a debate comes after Trump shunned the opportunity to join multiple debates in which other, ultimately unsuccessful, Republican presidential hopefuls squared off without the leading candidate on stage.
Now, after Trump and Biden each clinched their respective nominating contests, Trump said both candidates "OWE IT TO OUR COUNTRY" to face off on a stage, together. "ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!" Trump offered in his call for a general election debate after refusing to participate in RNC-sanctioned primary debates this cycle.
For his part, Biden most recently answered questions about debating Trump following the Gridiron Dinner, saying "I don't know if he's serious" about Trump's call for debates.
Even if Biden were to agree to a debate, there's another bigger-picture issue: who would host the face-off?
As Townhall previously reported, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) — the long-running organizer of general election debates between presidential and vice presidential nominees — announced in November that it had selected Texas State University, Virginia State University, the University of Utah, and Lafayette College as the hosts for 2024's debates slated to take place between September and October.
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However, the Republican National Committee — as a result of bias displayed in the 2020 Trump v. Biden and Pence v. Harris debates — formally voted to withdraw from participation in CPD-organized debates. Then-RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel emphasized that the CPD "is biased and has refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage."
As a result of the RNC's April 2022 vote to withdraw, Republican nominees for president and vice president were prohibited from participating in CPD-organized contests.
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