Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., co-founder of the Commission on Presidential Debates and former Republican National Committee chair, told Newsmax he's uneasy about the rules ahead of CNN's debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
In an interview on "Saturday Agenda," Fahrenkopf emphasized the importance of allowing candidates ample time to delve into topics thoroughly, a principle that he believed was lacking in the current setup.
"We modified the way we go through the debates where you have at least 15 minutes on each subject so that you really know where the candidates are and what they're going to do, and you're just not hearing something from the campaign trail," he said.
"As I understand the rules, a question could be asked of Joe Biden, and he had two minutes to answer it, then back to President Trump for one minute, then back to Biden for one minute."
Regarding the absence of a live audience at the CNN debate, Fahrenkopf suggested that the Biden campaign used the struggle to maintain decorum with a live audience during debates as an excuse to bypass the commission.
"It was used as an excuse by the Biden campaign to put together the program they've done — very different, very limited time to discuss, a very limited time.
"A debate is supposed to be with the two candidates [who] talk to each other and say how they're different on issues. I don't think you're going to get this out of this," he said.
Fahrenkopf also expressed reservations about moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
"There was no choice here for the Trump campaign," he said.
"As I know, they had no way to say, No, we're not going to use those two people who historically have not been very, very kind with regard to former President Trump."
Regarding the rules set by the Biden campaign for the debate, Fahrenkopf revealed that the commission had received a letter from the Biden team indicating their reluctance to engage in future debates under the commission's purview.
"What's happened is the Biden campaign has sent us a letter saying under no circumstances would they do a debate in the 2024 campaign with the Commission on Presidential Debates," he said.
"The Biden campaign has made it very clear they will not do anything with us on those university campuses. There will be no town hall meetings where individual citizens have a right to ask questions of the president or former president of the United States. That's all been cut out under the rules that the Biden campaign dictated for this particular debate," he added.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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