NBC NEWS
A dozen national news organizations are calling on the presumptive presidential nominees to commit to debates ahead of the November election.
In a joint statement Sunday, the news outlets pressed the candidates, without naming President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump, to pledge their participation in the debates scheduled by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
“Though it is too early for invitations to be extended to any candidates, it is not too early for candidates who expect to meet the eligibility criteria to publicly state their support for — and their intention to participate in — the Commission’s debates planned for this fall,” the group of news organizations, including NBC News, said in a joint statement.
Biden and Trump have both won enough delegates to secure their nominations at the party conventions.
The news outlets cited the “exceptionally high” stakes of the election, adding “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.”
