The Trump campaign is pressing for additional 2024 presidential debates, saying they should happen "much earlier" than the initial timetable proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Fox News Digital obtained an exclusive letter that reveals that Trump's co-campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, addressed the Commission on Presidential Debates co-chairs, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. and Antonia Hernandez, on Thursday.
"While the Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate to occur later this year, we are in favor of these debates beginning much earlier," they explained.
It stands to reason that the Trump campaign sees Biden as a frail old man with diminished cognitive health, and that's why he wants more debates much earlier. But the reason they are calling for a change in the debate schedule is actually objectively practical.
"Specific to the Commission's proposed 2024 calendar, it simply comes too late," they wrote. "By the date of the first proposed debate, September 16, 2024, over 1 million Americans will have likely voted. By the date of the second proposed debate, October 1, 2024, the number of Americans who will have likely cast a ballot will be over 3 million, an increase of 225%."
Related: After Biden’s Speech, I’m More Convinced Than Ever He Won’t Debate Trump
They estimate that by the third proposed debate on October 9, barely a month before the election, "approximately 8.7 million Americans will have already voted."
Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? In 2022, Sen. John Fetterman's (D-Pa.) poll numbers tanked after his disastrous debate performance with Dr. Mehmet Oz, but since so many had already voted in the election, it didn't matter.
Fox News Digital has more:
The Trump campaign argued that in 2020, Americans "were robbed of a true and robust debate," with the commission only hosting two debates that took place "much too late in the election calendar despite voting timelines having moved up exponentially."
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said it is "very important to have the debates now because the country is doing so badly."
Trump listed the crisis at the southern border, national security, America's standing on the world stage, rising crime, the economy and more.
"The country is in such trouble," Trump told Fox News Digital. "What are Biden’s plans?"
"I would fully accept any debate, anywhere, anytime, anyplace," he continued.
When asked if he thought Biden, too, would commit to a debate against him on the issues that matter most to voters, Trump replied:
The Biden campaign has yet to commit to any debates, and it is widely anticipated that it will make an excuse not to participate at all. As it is already unlikely that it will commit to the standard three debates in the fall, it's even less likely that he will commit to even more debates earlier on.
The Republican National Committee (RNC), of course, fully supports more debates.
“The RNC has long pushed for reforms that foster truly free and fair debates. Election calendars have become longer than ever before — and scheduling debates after millions of Americans have already cast their ballots does a grave disservice to voters who want to hear solutions to the economic, border, and crime crises created by Joe Biden," RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump said in a statement. "It’s no wonder that Biden wants to return to the basement and avoid accountability for his failures, but Americans deserve to see the contrast between his weaknesses and President Trump’s vision to Make America Great Again.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member