• A dozen news outlets have released a joint statement calling for “candidates who expect to meet the eligibility criteria” for November’s US Presidential Election to publicly state their intention to commit to debates scheduled for this fall. twitter.com
• The letter is signed by ABC News, CBS News, NBCUniversal News Group, Fox, CNN, C-SPAN, PBS NewsHour, NewsNation, Univision, NPR, AP News, and USA Today. reuters.com (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• The letter claims the ramifications of 2024’s election to be “exceptionally high,” while stating that there was “no substitute” for the “rich tradition” of the debate format which has been televised since 1976. BBC News
• In Nov. 2023, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced its intent to hold four events in 2024 — three presidential debates in Texas (Sept. 16), Virginia (Oct. 1), and Utah (Oct. 9) as well as a vice presidential debate in Pennsylvania (Sept. 25). Debates
• US Pres. Joe Biden and former Pres. Donald Trump, once again the presumptive nominee for their respective parties, debated twice in 2020 after a third was canceled after Trump tested positive for COVID. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• Latest data from RealClearPolitics’ polling averages shows, as of April 13, Trump (45.6%) is ahead of Biden (45.4%) by a margin of 0.2 percentage points — having led the current President in this poll since late Oct. 2023. RealClearPolling

Pro-Trump narrative:

• Despite repeated assurances from the Trump campaign that the former President is more than willing to debate Biden, it’s clear that memories of the 2020 election cycle still haunt the Biden administration. Unwilling to have the President embarrassed on national television once again, Democrats continue to shield an aging and politically ineffective Biden from the public.
  THE EPOCH TIMES

Democratic narrative:

• It’s up to President Biden to decide whether he should allow Trump the opportunity to spread further lies on national television. While debate between presidential candidates should be encouraged, Trump’s brazen willingness to spread misinformation for personal gain is of no benefit to American democracy. Biden thinks strategically and, if or when the two come together, he use the platform to once again expose the former president and inform the American public.
  CNN (LR: 2 CP: 5)

Nerd narrative:

• There’s a 57% chance that a debate be held between Joe Biden and Donald Trump before the 2024 US presidential election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
  METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)