President Trump on Monday signaled he would participate in a four-hour debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden moderated by Joe Rogan, despite such a format being likely impossible.
Trump shared a tweet from Tim Kennedy, a retired mixed martial artist, who wrote that Rogan, a comedian and mixed martial arts color commentator, offered during his podcast to moderate a four-hour debate between Trump and Biden without a live audience.
“Just the two candidates, cameras, and their vision of how to move this country forward. Who wants this? #debates #Election2020,” Kennedy tweeted.
Trump responded, writing, “I do!”
The Commission on Presidential Debates has already scheduled three presidential debates on Sept. 29, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 and a vice presidential debate on Oct. 7.
Trump’s campaign sought to add a debate before early voting begins in some states, but the commission rejected that offer, keeping the schedule the same.
Trump is currently trailing Biden nationally and in some key battleground states, though some surveys have indicated the race is tightening. Strategists believe that the debates could take an outsized importance during this campaign season, given that the coronavirus pandemic has forced candidates to alter their traditional campaigning. The debates could offer Trump a chance to improve his standing, or allow Biden to solidify his lead.
Trump has questioned Biden’s mental acuity in recent months, describing him as “shot” and suggesting baselessly that the former vice president took drugs to improve his debate performance during the Democratic primary.
Some Democrats have recommended that Biden sit out the debates because of Trump’s penchant for false statements. The former vice president has rejected those appeals, however.
“I am going to be the fact-checker on the stage while I’m debating him,” Biden told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell in August.