How America’s presidential debates are changing this year
Will the Trump-Biden showdowns be an institution’s last gasp, or a new start?
“WE AIN’T DEAD yet,” Frank Fahrenkopf insisted last month on “The Daily Show”, an American TV programme. Jon Stewart, the host, looked sceptical. Mr Fahrenkopf leads the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a non-partisan body whose sole purpose is to organise match-ups every four years. This year his group will have nothing to do with them. In May, after signalling that he might not participate at all, Joe Biden challenged Donald Trump to debate him—on Mr Biden’s terms. Mr Trump agreed. The presidential candidates will face off twice. Unusually, news networks, rather than the CPD, will host the encounters. They will take place months earlier than they normally would. The first is scheduled for June 27th. How will these new arrangements change presidential debates?
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