For the first time in more than three decades, an independent presidential candidate may take part in a general election debate.
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the schedule and prerequisites for the 2024 cycle Monday, with three presidential debates set for:
- Sept. 16, 2024, at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas
- Oct. 1, 2024, at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va.
- Oct. 9, 2024, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City
A single vice presidential debate is slated for Sept. 25, 2024, at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.
To qualify for the debate stage, candidates for president and vice president must have achieved at least 15% in national polling.
With under 10 months to go until the first debate, environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is averaging 16.7% in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
“We welcome the 15% threshold. We only want serious candidates vying for the highest office in the land,” Kennedy Jr.’s press secretary Stefanie Spear told The Post.
“Mr. Kennedy will definitely be on the debate stage. Americans deserve transparency and a chance to see their candidates share their vision for the country.”
Business magnate Ross Perot was the only third-party candidate in the modern era to make a general election debate, in 1992.
The CPD, which has overseen all general election debates since 1988, will determine which polls will be considered qualifying after consulting with experts.
RFK Jr. switched to independent last month. AP
Last presidential election cycle, the debate process proved to be turbulent. Getty ImagesModerators and formats for the debates haven’t been announced yet. Each one is expected to start at 9 p.m. ET and last approximately 90 minutes.
However, it remains unclear whether the Republican and Democratic standard-bearers will participate.
Both of the frontrunners — former President Donald Trump, 77, and President Biden, 81 — appear noncommittal to squaring off at the CPD-sponsored events. onstage
“President Trump very much looks forward to debating Crooked Joe Biden in the general election, but it remains to be seen if Biden will show up,” a source from the Trump campaign told The Post.
“The campaign has not yet weighed in on the Commission itself or their schedule.”
Donald Trump has been topping President Biden in a flurry of recent polls. AFP via Getty ImagesA spokesperson for the Biden campaign did not return a request for comment from The Post, nor did reps for both the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee.
Friction emerged between the RNC and the CPD during the 2020 election cycle, with RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel accusing the commission of bias.
Trump famously skipped the second planned debate, protesting plans to make it virtual following his contraction of COVID-19.
President Biden just turned 81 on Monday. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesRepublicans also took issue with the choice of then-C-SPAN host Steve Scully as moderator, who had interned for Biden in the late 1970s. Scully was then suspended by C-SPAN after he lied about communicating with former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci ahead of the debate.
Trump has also skipped all three of the GOP primary debates so far this cycle.
The general election is slated for Nov. 5, 2024.
