Former President Donald Trump says he is ready to debate “any time, any place” as the presumptive Republican nominee and President Biden sharpen their attacks on each other.
Mr. Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social that Rep. Dean Phillips’ decision to exit the Democratic primary leaves nothing in the way of a rematch with Mr. Biden in November, so it is time to hit the debate stage.
“For the good of our now failing Nation, and in order to inform the American people of what is going on in our Country, we must immediately have a full scale debate between Crooked Joe and Honest Don. I’m ready to go, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE!” Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Trump made a similar assertion during a campaign rally over the weekend.
He challenged Mr. Biden to debate days after the president criticized the policies of his “predecessor” in his State of the Union address.
Mr. Biden has been coy about whether he would debate Mr. Trump, saying it depends on his rival’s “behavior.”
It would be politically risky for Mr. Biden to shy from a debate.
Some voters are worried about his advanced age of 81, and Mr. Biden was accused of running a “basement” campaign in 2020, so the president faces pressure to put himself forward.
Still, Democrats are leery about debating Mr. Trump because of his penchant for interrupting debate rivals or failing to observe the general rules of engagement.
Former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Mr. Trump is the one who needs to show he is willing to debate in a normal fashion.
“President Biden has debated each time he’s run for president, and he debated last time under the rubric of the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates,” Mr. Klain told MSNBC. “Trump said he would never participate in Commission debates again. So I think it’s really up to Donald Trump to make it clear he would agree to this long-standing way in which we’ve conducted presidential debates in this country.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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