New York –

Twelve news organizations on Sunday urged presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to participate in the debate, calling it a “rich tradition” in every general election campaign since 1976.

While Trump did not participate in the debate for the Republican nomination and has expressed a willingness to take on his 2020 rivals, the Democratic president has not yet committed to debating him again.

Although invitations have not yet been formally sent out, news organizations say it is not too early for the campaigns to publicly indicate they will participate in three presidential and one vice-presidential forums established by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.

“If Americans can agree on one thing during this polarized time, it’s that the stakes in this election are unusually high,” the groups said in a joint statement. “Against this backdrop, candidates in the U.S. There’s no substitute for having people debate each other and express their vision for our country’s future.”

ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, PBS, NBC, NPR and the Associated Press all signed the letter.

Biden and Trump debated twice in 2020. The third debate was canceled after then-President Trump tested positive for COVID-19 and would not debate remotely.

When asked on March 8 whether he would be willing to debate Trump, Biden said, “It depends on his behavior.” Annoyed, his opponent at one point said: “Can you shut up?”

“We have expressed President Trump’s willingness to hold debates anytime, anywhere — and the time to start them is now,” Trump campaign managers Suzy Wells and Chris LaCivita said in a letter last week. It’s time.”

Citing seven debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in the Illinois Senate in 1858, they said “America today certainly deserves the same treatment.”

The Republican National Committee voted in 2022 to no longer participate in forums hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The Trump campaign has not said it will comply with the rule, but it did impose some conditions. The campaign manager said the committee selected a “clearly anti-Trump moderator” in 2020, then-Fox News host Chris Wallace, and wanted to ensure that committee debates were fair and impartial.

The Trump campaign is also hoping for early voting, saying many Americans will vote before Sept. 16, Oct. 1 and Oct. 9, the three debate dates set by the committee.

The Biden campaign declined to comment on the news organizations’ letter, pointing to the president’s earlier statements. There was no immediate response from the Trump campaign.

But on Saturday, Trump held a rally in northeastern Pennsylvania with two podiums set up on the stage: one for him to deliver his speech, and another to symbolize what he said was Biden’s refusal to debate him. A placard on the second podium read: “Anytime. Anywhere. Anywhere.”

Midway through his campaign speech, Trump turned to his right and pointed toward the second podium.

“We have a little bit, look at this, for him,” he said. “See the podium? I’m calling on crooked Joe Biden to debate anytime, anywhere. Right there. We have to debate because our country is seriously going in the wrong direction, and while it’s kind of typical early on, we There has to be a debate. “We have to debate, we have to explain to the American people what’s going on,” Trump said.

C-SPAN, NewsNation and Univision also joined the letter calling for debate. Only one newspaper, USA Today, expressed its opinion. The Washington Post declined a request to join.

Of course, broadcasters can take advantage of the benefits that debates can bring. TV news ratings are down significantly compared to the 2020 campaign, although there are other factors, such as the blackouts and the pandemic, that increased interest in the news four years ago.

There have been no Democratic debates this presidential cycle, and Trump’s refusal to participate in Republican forums has reduced interest in them.