WASHINGTON — President Biden said Friday that he will face off with former President Donald Trump on the debate stage ahead of their rematch on Nov. 5 — ending speculation after the 81-year-old president said last month that it “depends on his behavior.”
“I am somewhere, I don’t know when, but I am happy to debate him,” Biden told satellite radio host Howard Stern in a rare wide-ranging interview lasting more than one hour.
Trump 2024 campaign adviser Chris LaCivita was quick to respond to Biden’s remarks, posting on X: “Let’s set it up!”
The candidates debated twice during the 2020 campaign, with then-President Trump hammering the Democrat on policy and alleging that he was corrupt.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has tentatively scheduled three showdowns ahead of the general election: Sept. 16 in San Marcos, Texas; Oct. 1 in Petersburg, Va.; and Oct. 9 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Polls show broad bipartisan concern about whether Biden is too old to hold office. He already is the oldest-ever president and would be 86 if he completes a full second term.
Trump, 77, currently leads Biden in most national and swing-state polls, but surveys show a criminal conviction could diminish his support — as rising inflation and interest rates, as well as record-breaking illegal immigration, are among Biden’s worst-polling liabilities.
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