President Joe Biden and Donald Trump have officially agreed to participate in a prime-time presidential debate on ABC News Sept. 10, moderated by ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis.
“President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement, per ABC News. “No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates.”
This will be the second presidential debate between the candidates. The first will be held on CNN June 27, with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating.
This agreement comes after Biden publicly challenged Trump to debate him, pointing out that the Republican candidate skipped all four of the Republican National Committee 2024 election debates.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate,” he said in a campaign video shared on social media. “Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal.”
The Trump campaign proposed four debates instead of two in their statement. “We propose a debate in June, a debate in July, a debate in August, and a debate in September, in addition to the Vice Presidential debate,” Trump campaign staffers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said. “Additional dates will allow voters to have maximum exposure to the records and future visions of each candidate.”
Trump replied to Biden’s challenge on his social media platform, saying, “I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September. I would strongly recommend more than two debates.”
Per Deadline, this is the first time Muir or Davis has moderated a general election debate.
The news was announced on World News Tonight, which Muir’s anchored since 2014. Davis anchors ABC News Live, the network’s streaming program, and the Sunday edition of World News Tonight.
The Biden campaign asked that the debate be between only Biden and Trump, meaning independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy will not be in attendance.
Viewers will be able to watch the debate on ABC News, ABC News Live, and Hulu.