2024 United States presidential debates

In April 2022, the Republican National Committee voted unanimously to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates; committee chair Ronna McDaniel called the organization "biased" and stated that they would find "newer, better debate platforms" for future Republican nominees. This announcement came after years of tension between the organizations, including a threat made earlier in the year by the RNC to change its rules to prohibit nominees from participating in CPD debates. In response, the commission stated that "[its] plans for 2024 will be based on fairness, neutrality and a firm commitment to help the American public learn about the candidates and the issues."

Former president Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, did not attend any primary debates, deeming them unnecessary and detrimental to his campaign. He has previously accused the CPD of unfair treatment in the 2016 and 2020 debates, and the likelihood of Trump attending the debates has been brought into question. Despite this, Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier in a June 2023 interview that he is interested in debating incumbent president Joe Biden should he become the Democratic nominee. At that time, Biden had not committed to attending the debate either, as his campaign was also in conflict with the commission for failing to enforce its rules against Trump, though in April 2024 he confirmed he plans to debate Trump.

Biden and Trump became the presumptive nominees of their respective parties in March 2024, setting up the first presidential rematch since 1956. On April 14, 2024, a number of major news organizations signed an open letter to the nominees urging them to attend the debates, arguing for its "rich tradition in our American democracy" and that the "exceptionally high" stakes require debates to be held. Signatories include ABC News, CBS News, CNN, NBC News, and Fox News, among others.

If either major party nominee chooses not to attend a general election debate, it would be the first since 2020, when president Trump refused to attend the second debate with Biden because it would have been virtual rather than in person following Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis. It previously occurred in 1980, when president Jimmy Carter refused to attend the first debate with Ronald Reagan due to the presence of independent candidate John B. Anderson. Should both refuse it would be the first presidential election since 1972 without any general election debate. Additionally, if independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. improves his current polling results, he could be the first third party candidate since Ross Perot in 1992 to qualify for the debates.

Throughout his 2024 campaign, Trump has confirmed his intention to cooperate with the Commission on Presidential Debates repeatedly and vocally challenged Biden to debate "Anywhere, anytime, anyplace."

On May 7, 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued an open letter challenging former President Trump to debate him at the Libertarian National Convention, where both are already scheduled to speak from May 24-25, citing Trump's frequent and vocal claims that he would be willing to debate anywhere and Kennedy's own competitive polling with both major candidates.

In order to qualify for the CPD-sponsored debates, presidential candidates had to meet the following criteria; vice-presidential candidates qualify by being the running mate of a qualifying presidential candidate:

• Be constitutionally eligible to hold the presidency.
• Appear on a sufficient number of ballots to have a mathematical possibility of winning a majority vote in the Electoral College.
• Have a level of support of at least 15% of the national electorate as determined by five national public opinion polling organizations selected by the commission, using the average of those organizations' most recently reported results at the time of determination.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the schedule for its four debates on November 20, 2023. All debates will start at 9 p.m. ET and will run for 90 minutes uninterrupted.