President Joe Biden will be the odd man out in a series of town halls focused on the presidential election, according to a new report.
Cable news network NewsNation and social media giant X have secured an agreement “in principle” of former President Donald Trump and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to participate in live town halls, according to Axios, which cited sources it did not name.
“The Biden campaign has not agreed to take part,” Axios said in an article published on Thursday.
The Trump-Kennedy project is not a debate, but separate live interviews in what is being billed as “The People’s Town Hall.”
Dates and locations have not been determined, but the concept is that users can submit questions to moderators both before and during the events, Axios said it was told.
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The final slate of questions will be determined by the moderators, who have not yet been picked.
Axios said X CEO Linda Yaccarino instigated the concept and reported that the goal “is to make X the destination in which everyday people can have a greater voice in the political process.”
Biden and Trump are scheduled for a debate hosted by CNN on June 27 in Atlanta, but Kennedy has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over the event, according to Fox News.
“The violations occurred when, based on the available evidence, CNN colluded with the Biden committee and the Trump committee to schedule and did schedule a debate with criteria that were designed to result in the selection of certain pre-chosen participants, namely Biden and Trump,” the letter of complaint said.
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The alleged collusion means CNN is “in a clear breach of federal campaign finance law,” the letter said.
In a news release, Kennedy said: “By demanding our campaign meet different criteria to participate in the debate than Presidents Biden and Trump, CNN’s debate violates FEC law and is a large prohibited corporate contribution to both the Biden and Trump campaigns.”
Commission on Presidential Debates co-chairman Frank Fahrenkopf said several details still need to be resolved before the June 27 event, according to CBS.
“There are a lot of things that have to be worked out,” Fahrenkopf said this week. “There’s a lot of questions … that aren’t to my knowledge worked out yet. That could prevent it from happening.”
The issues include how the candidates will stand or sit and how much time each will get to speak or reply, he said, noting that details were the reason debates foundered for years before the commission was set up.
“That’s the reason that we were created,” Fahrenkopf said. “The history of two campaigns sitting down and arguing and arguing and arguing.
“Little things can get in the way. I don’t know whether that’s as true here, but there are a lot of things.”
Fahrenkopf said he still hopes proper debates take place.
“If they’re able to succeed with these two debates that they’re planning, if they’re done right (and) they educate the American people, I will give them a salute. The only reason we exist is to make sure debates take place,” he said.
“If they crash and burn, we’ll still be there and hopefully be able to fill what’s empty.”
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