(Daily Wire) On Wednesday, shortly after President Joe Biden challenged former President Donald Trump to a pair of debates on his terms, CNNannounced that it would hold the first event in late June with no audience in the battleground state of Georgia.
CNN said in a press release the debate would be held in the cable network’s Atlanta studios at 9 p.m. on Thursday, June 27, embracing the proposal from Biden’s campaign to have the first event in the latter part of that month.
“To ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate, no audience will be present,” the press release said.
NEWS: CNN puts out press release
Debate in Georgia, June 27, 9pm.
No audience.
Moderators tbd.
“CNN will host an election debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald J. Trump on June 27, 2024 at 9pm ET from the crucial battleground state of Georgia.” pic.twitter.com/dR74Q9VVLB— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) May 15, 2024
CNN said that the qualifications required to participate in the debate included a candidate’s name appearing on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency before the eligibility deadline.
That would leave an opening for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make it into the debate stage, though his inclusion would reject one of the stipulations made by Biden’s campaign to have a one-on-one contest with Trump.
CNN also said candidates must agree to accept the rules and format of the debate and receive “at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting.”
The polling window to determine eligibility for the debate, according to CNN, opened on March 13 and closes seven days before the date of the debate. CNN also listed a number of polls that meet its editorial standards.
Moderators for the debate have since been announced to be CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
While some see Kennedy as running a potential spoiler campaign, the third-party candidate has been working to get on the ballot in all 50 states and has reached double-digit support in some polls. Kennedy saidin a post to X that keeping “viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy.”
