Quick Hit:

President Joe Biden has finally agreed to participate in debates with former President Donald Trump, two months after refusing Trump's open challenge to debate "Anytime, anywhere, anyplace." The decision comes amid Biden's cratering poll numbers in swing-states, though the Biden camp's proposal comes with significant guardrails for the gaffe-prone president.

Key Details:

• The Biden-Harris campaign proposed the debates in a letter to the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, breaking the tradition of three fall meetings organized by the commission.
• The proposed dates for the debates are in late June and early September, with a vice presidential debate to occur in late July.
• The Biden proposal includes specific conditions such as no audience, no interruptions from Trump while Biden is speaking, and only Biden-friendly news outlets can moderate.

Diving Deeper:

The Biden-Harris campaign's proposal for the debates was outlined in a letter to the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Thi move breaks away from the decades-old tradition of three fall meetings organized by the debate commission. The first debate is proposed to be in late June, after Trump's New York criminal trial is likely to be over and after Biden returns from meeting with world leaders at the G7 Summit. A second presidential debate would occur in September prior to the beginning of early voting. The campaign also proposed a vice presidential debate to occur in late July after the Republicans nominate their vice presidential candidate.

However, the Biden proposal includes some significant guardrails for the gaffe-prone president. These include no audience, no interruptions from Trump while Biden is speaking, and only Biden-friendly news outlets can moderate (CBS, ABC, CNN, or Telemundo).

Trump, who has been vocal about his readiness to debate Biden, responded to the proposal on Truth Social Wednesday morning, saying, "It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy, which is allowing the World to 'Catch on Fire.'"

Trump added, "I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds - That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. 'Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!'"