A spokesman for President Joe Biden said the president did not “mince words” in a 14-second clip with several edits and cuts calling on former President Donald Trump to debate him.
Biden released a video containing multiple cuts Wednesday morning challenging Trump to a debate, which evidently was not shot in one take. He suggested that one debate be held in June and another in September and demanded that only his friendliest networks — CNN, ABC News, Telemundo and CBS News — host the debates.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020,” Biden said before the first cut. “And since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate.”
“Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again,” he said before the third cut. “Well make my day, pal … I’ll even debate you twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”
Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate.
Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again.
Well, make my day, pal. pic.twitter.com/AkPmvs2q4u
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024
Michael Tyler, the campaign communications director, said the president did “not mince words” and the campaign will await a response from the former president.
“I mean listen, the president himself did not mince words, right? He said that he beat Donald Trump twice in 2020. Donald Trump hasn’t debated since, the president is happy to debate. He’s happy to do it twice,” Tyler told “Morning Joe” Wednesday. “He thinks we should do it sooner rather than later so the American people can see the stark choice that’s in front of them in this election. We should do it in June after Donald Trump’s criminal trial is likely to conclude and the president returns from the G-7 Summit and we should have a second debate in September way ahead of when early voting begins again so the Americans people can hear from both candidates before they go cast their ballots.”
“I think the question now becomes, will Donald Trump keep his word? Will he step up to the plate here? We haven’t heard from him yet, but we’ll be waiting all day,” he continued. (RELATED: Biden Challenges Trump To Audience-Free Debates On His Friendliest Networks)
Several months after the Trump campaign committed to a debate, Biden vowed to debate his 2024 rival during an April 26 radio interview with Howard Stern. A Trump aide told the Daily Caller in November that the former president “looks forward” to debating the incumbent, and awaited the Biden campaign’s response.
Prominent Democrats have sounded the alarm against a potential Biden-Trump debate. Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin warned in January that Biden should “think twice” about debating Trump due to his alleged tendency to say and do “outrageous things,” while Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said Trump’s behavior during the 2020 debate and his refusal to debate his Republican primary challengers.
Most voters, including Democrats, have shown considerable concern about the 81-year-old president’s age and mental fitness to serve a second term. A Pew Research poll from April found that 65% of respondents have “little to no confidence” that Biden has the physical or mental fitness to be president, while 36% believe Trump has those capacities.