Trump taunts Biden with an empty debate lectern at his Wisconsin rally

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a demonstrative call for head-to-head debates with President Joe Biden, placing an empty lectern on the stage before a rally here to represent where Biden could stand.

“This is for Joe Biden. I am trying to get him to debate,” Trump said, referring to the empty podium. “Trying to get Crooked Joe to debate. Anytime, anyplace.”

A staple of down-ballot candidates seeking to force reluctant rivals to debate, the visual aid emphasized Trump's charge that Biden is afraid to meet him one-on-one. But it also hinted at the very real possibility that a presidential election could come to pass without at least one televised debate for the first time in generations. And, by implication, it excludes the candidate causing consternation for both presumptive major-party nominees: independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"If RFK Jr. gets on a debate stage, Democrats and Republicans better gird their loins," Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis said. "As long as you have a race with two candidates with high unfavorables, injecting a third candidate creates a lot of dangerous scenarios."

Until Tuesday, there had been little public discussion of debates since Trump and Biden locked down enough delegates to win their parties' nominations last month. Trump wrote in a typical all-caps post on Truth Social in March that he would debate Biden "anytime, anywhere, anyplace"— a sentiment repeated on the front of the empty lectern at Tuesday's rally.

But his campaign has avoided answering questions about why he sounds so eager to get on a stage with Biden after skipping the Republican primary debates this election. In 2022, the Republican National Committee, citing perceived bias during