I’m happy to debate Trump, says Biden in surprise Howard Stern interview

Joe Biden sprang a surprise on the Washington press corps on Friday when he gave an interview to the radio host and shock jock Howard Stern.

The president also made news. Asked if he would debate Donald Trump before the election in November, as the presumptive Republican nominee (who skipped all debates in the primary) has demanded, Biden said: “I am, somewhere, I don’t know when, but I am happy to debate him.”

The Biden campaign confirmed to reporters that Biden was willing to face Trump in person. Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump and the Republican National Committee, posted: “OK let’s set it up!”

The interview between Biden and Stern was announced minutes before the conversation began on air. Reporting the unscheduled stop in New York, the White House pool report said: “At 10.05am, the motorcade made an unscheduled stop at Sirius XM studio in midtown Manhattan.”

Jennifer Witz, chief executive of Sirius XM, said: “We are thrilled that President Biden chose Howard Stern. It’s just another reminder that Howard is in a league of his own, regularly lauded as the world’s best interviewer.”

That would be up for debate but Stern does have a habit of making news – often, in the case of Biden’s White House predecessor, retrospectively.

Trump’s interviews with Stern before entering politics have regularly resurfaced, particularly over Trump’s usually controversial, often lewd and sometimes disturbing remarks.

Wirtz said Sirius XM was “proud to offer distinct and varied insights and commentary spanning the political spectrum”.

Biden was in New York after attending a campaign fundraiser hosted by the actor Michael Douglas on Thursday.

Stern had never interviewed a sitting president before. In 2019, he interviewed Hillary Clinton,