Former President Trump suggested that the White House be the location for this meeting. a debate against President Bidensaying he “would be very comfortable”.
The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, after hours in a Manhattan courtroom for the eighth day of his criminal trial, repeatedly said he would debate Biden. “anywhere, anytime, anywhere.”
Biden broke his silence during the debate over his 2024 opponent Friday during an interview with radio host Howard Stern. Biden said he would be “happy” to debate Trump.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN DEMANDS BIDEN DEBATE “MUCH SOONER” AND MORE OFTEN
“I’m somewhere, I don’t know when,” Biden said, after Stern said he didn’t know if Biden would participate in a debate. “I’m happy to debate him.”
Trump, shortly after Biden’s interview, which he did during a visit to New York on Friday, posted on his Truth Social account inviting Biden to debate him at the Lower Manhattan courthouse.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves court during his trial for allegedly hiding secret money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court April 22, 2024 in New York. (Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images)
“Instead, he is in New York today, although he probably doesn’t know it, and so am I, stuck in one of the many court cases he initiated under the name ELECTION INTERFERENCE AGAINST A POLITICAL OPPONENT – A WITCH HUNT CONTINUES!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It’s the only way he thinks he can win. In fact, let’s have the debate at the courthouse tonight – on national television, I’ll be waiting!”
Trump, after the trial ended Friday, came out and reflected on the day of his testimony.
“We’re sitting here day, after day, after day, which is their plan,” Trump said of Democrats, who he said hope to win the election. “But I doubt it because the poll numbers are very good for us.”
Trump told reporters he invited Biden to debate.
TRUMP CALLS FOR DEBATES WITH BIDEN “ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYWHERE”
“He can do it whenever he wants, including tonight. He can do it tonight,” Trump said. “I invited him to the courthouse where he held us. This was a well-coordinated attack on a political opponent.”
Trump added: “But here I am, I’m ready, willing and able.”
Trump said “if he wants it, I’ll do it Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night.”
Trump said Wednesday night he would campaign in Michigan, saying it was a state Biden “destroyed because of the auto industry” and said auto jobs were “all going to China with his ridiculous mandate on electric vehicles.
“But we are prepared to do it Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night on national television,” Trump said. “We’re ready. Just tell me where.”
President Joe Biden speaks during the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“We’ll do it at the White House,” Trump said. “It would be very comfortable, actually. Tell me where. We’re ready.”
Trump told reporters that Biden “clearly wouldn’t show up right now” at the courthouse.
BIDEN SAYS DEBATING Trump ‘DEPENDS ON HIS BEHAVIOR’
“We haven’t heard anything, but he said today he would love to debate,” Trump said. “But he won’t debate. I don’t think he will debate. Maybe he will. Maybe he will. I’m not sure he has a choice.”
He added: “We are ready, willing and able. We don’t see him and I don’t think he will be there. Maybe he will next week.”
“I doubt it,” Trump said. “But maybe next week.”
Earlier this month, the Trump campaign called for additional presidential debates in 2024 and for them to take place “much sooner” than was initially proposed by the debate commission.
U.S. President Donald Trump answers a question as Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden listens during the final presidential debate at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., October 22, 2020. Morry Gash/Pool via REUTERS REFILE – CORRECTION BYLINE (Morry Gash/Pool via REUTERS)
Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital shortly afterward, said he was “totally committed” to debating President Biden “anytime, anywhere, anywhere.”
As for Biden, before today, he had not yet committed to debating his opponent.
When asked last month whether he would debate the former president, Biden said it depended on Trump’s “behavior.”
“It depends on his behavior,” Biden said.
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Earlier this year, Biden responded to previous calls for earlier debates with Trump.
“If I were him, I would want to debate me too,” Biden told reporters in Nevada when asked if Trump wanted to debate him earlier in the election cycle.
“He doesn’t have to do anything else,” Biden said.
