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Major news organizations urge Biden, Trump to commit to presidential debates
CBS News and 11 other major news organizations on Sunday issued a joint statement urging President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to commit to debates during the 2024 campaign season.
In the letter, the news organizations said it was too early for invitations to go out to candidates for debates, but that it wasn’t too early for presidential candidates who expect to meet eligibility criteria to publicly state their commitment to debates in the fall.
“If there is one thing Americans can agree on during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations said in the joint statement. “Amidst that backdrop, there is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation.”
ABC News, The Associated Press, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX News Media, NBCUniversal News Group, NewsNation, Noticias Univision (Univision Network News), NPR, PBS NewsHour and USA TODAY joined CBS News in signing the joint statement.
The Republican National Committee voted unanimously in 2022 to ban future GOP presidential nominees from participating in debates put on by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, the body that has sponsored general election debates since 1988.
Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita addressed the Commission on Presidential Debates in a letter on Thursday, saying that Trump was willing to debate. They did not address the 2022 GOP vote, but they did call on the commission to be fair and impartial.
Evelyn Hockstein / REUTERS
“Fairness in such a setting is paramount and the Commission must ensure that the 2024 Commission-sponsored debates are truly fair and conducted impartially,” they wrote. “The Commission must move up the timetable of its proposed 2024 debates to ensure more Americans have a full chance to see the candidates before they start voting, and we would argue for adding more debates in addition to those on the currently proposed schedule.”
Trump, who avoided debating his GOP rivals in primary debates, previously faced some criticism for failing to show up to those debates and face questions on stage alongside other Republican candidates. But in a December interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump suggested he’d be up for 10 debates with Mr. Biden. He also discussed debating with President Biden in a Thursday post to Truth Social.
“Biden can’t speak,” Trump said. “Biden can’t debate, Biden can’t put two sentences together.”
At a Saturday rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, Trump had two podiums set up on stage. He spoke to the crowd from one podium and left the other empty except for a placard reading, “Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace.” He pointed to the lectern partway through his campaign speech.
“See the podium? I’m calling on Crooked Joe Biden to debate anytime, anywhere, any place. Right there,” Trump said. “And we have to debate because our country is going in the wrong direction so badly and while it’s a little bit typically early we have to debate.”
President Biden, when asked on March 8 if he would commit to a debate with Trump, said that “it depends on his behavior.” The president previously addressed a potential debate in early February while visiting Las Vegas. After being told that Trump wanted to debate him as soon as possible, Mr. Biden said, “If I were him, I’d want to debate me too. He’s got nothing else to do.”
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As housing costs skyrocket and the demand for affordable homes surges, builders across the U.S. are constructing entire blocks of single-family homes specifically designed for renters. These so-called built-to-rent communities can offer another option for those who want a home but cannot afford to buy one.
Texas resident Richard Belote says his rented home 90 minutes from Houston is a “good stepping stone, because interest rates are “just too high to manage.” Despite saving diligently to buy a home, he and his fiancee feel priced out of their house hunt.
“Just really kind of crossing our fingers that those rates go down,” he said.
Belote is far from alone.
A July CNN poll found 86% of renters say they can’t afford to buy a home and 54% say they believe it’s unlikely they’ll ever be able to. However, another poll found 81% of renters want to own a residence in the future.
“House prices have gone up by more than 40% in just four years,” said CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger. “There are a lot of people out there who really, really want to be in homes, and they just can’t afford to get there,” Schlesinger said.
Built-to-rent communities began in Phoenix during the Great Recession to meet that demand. They are higher density and smaller cottage-sized homes — a literal cottage industry now spreading in cities across the Sunbelt, including Phoenix, Atlanta and Dallas.
Brent Long leads the build-to-rent expansion for Christopher Todd Communities in Arizona. He says the renters range in age from Gen Z to Baby Boomers.
“It’s really renters by choice and renters by need,” Long said.
When asked if the concept goes against a more traditional view of buying a home to achieve the American Dream, Long said, “I don’t think it takes it away. It solves some issues that are out there in terms of affordability, availability.”
Cassie Wilson rents by choice in Phoenix, Arizona. She says the “perfect” arrangement allows her to enjoy many amenities without the homeownership responsibilities.
“I can live here in a house that is fully up kept by someone else. I would like to buy a house out here. But on the flip side, I still want to travel,” Wilson said.
Though a growing industry, these built-to-rent communities made up only 7.9% of new residential constructions last year, according to Arbor Realty Trust.
Arizona housing advocates warn that the properties are not enough to push prices down, but welcome anything that helps to address the housing shortage.
Back in Texas, Belote said he wakes up every morning and enjoys his backyard with the dogs and his cup of coffee. It’s a home-sweet-home as he waits for a break in the housing market.
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