'No Substitute': Major News Outlets Ask Candidates To Commit To Televised Presidential Debate

While Donald Trump has said he's eager to debate Joe Biden, the president has seemed skeptical about a one-on-one showdown with his competitor.

NEW YORK (AP) — Twelve news organizations on Sunday urged presumptive presidential nominees Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to debates, saying they were a “rich tradition” that have been part of every general election campaign since 1976.

While Trump, who did not participate in debates for the Republican nomination, has indicated a willingness to take on his 2020 rival, the Democratic president has not committed to debating him again.

Although invitations have not been formally issued, the news organizations said it was not too early for each campaign to say publicly that it will participate in the three presidential and one vice presidential forums set by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “Amidst that backdrop, there is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation.”

The Associated Press, ABC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox, PBS, NBC, NewsNation, NPR, Univision and USA Today all signed signed the letter.