Trump raises possibility of skipping debates hosted by traditional group
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Version 0 of 1. President Trump raised the possibility Monday that he will not participate in debates against the Democratic nominee hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates, alleging the nonprofit group that traditionally sponsors the events is biased against him. In a series of tweets, Trump claimed he is looking forward to debating “whoever the lucky person is who stumbles across the finish line in the little watched Do Nothing Democrat Debates.” But he said the commission is “stacked with Trump Haters & Never Trumpers.” “As President, the debates are up to me, and there are many options, including doing them directly & avoiding the nasty politics of this very biased Commission,” Trump said. “I will make a decision at an appropriate time but in the meantime, the Commission on Presidential Debates is NOT authorized to speak for me (or R’s)!” Trump’s tweets come as the House prepares to vote to impeach him this week, setting up a trial in the Republican-led Senate, which is not expected to remove him from office. His tweets appear to have been prompted by a New York Times report last week that Trump has been discussing with his advisers the possibility of sitting out the general election debates because of his misgivings about the commission. In his tweets, Trump revisited a grievance about the commission from his first debate in 2016 against Democrat Hillary Clinton, whom he referred to Monday as “Crooked Hillary.” Trump claimed the commission was “forced to publicly apologize for modulating my microphone.” The commission acknowledged in a one-line statement that Trump’s microphone was faulty in the debate hall but indicated that it did not affect the television broadcast. “Regarding the first debate, there were issues regarding Donald Trump’s audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall,” the statement said. Several Democratic candidates threaten to skip next week’s presidential debate in Los Angeles In his tweets, Trump suggested he would be willing to participate in more than the traditional three presidential debates if the events were hosted by another entity. “My record is so good on the Economy and all else, including debating, that perhaps I would consider more than 3 debates,” he said. The Commission on Presidential Debates was established in 1987 and has hosted general election debates every cycle since 1988. |