Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia has criticized President Joe Biden for withdrawing from a debate scheduled to take place at Virginia State University. Biden announced that he would partake in two debates against his rival, former President Donald Trump, instead of those overseen by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which included the one at VSU on Oct. 1. The VSU debate was meant to be the second of three presidential debates in a series that the commission selected, including two other debates in Texas and Utah. VSU would have been the first historically black university to host such an event.
The Biden campaign is refusing to participate in a historic general election presidential debate at @VSU_1882, a great university and HBCU. Joe Biden is turning his back on students, Virginians and the nation because he can’t defend his failing policies. Huge snub to VSU and the…
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) May 16, 2024
Youngkin expressed disappointment with Biden’s decision, accusing him of neglecting the students, Virginians, and the nation at large. He labeled it as a “huge snub to VSU and the citizens of the Commonwealth.” Before Biden’s announcement, his campaign chairwoman, Jen O’Malley Dillon, reportedly raised concerns about the debate’s timing, claiming it was too late in the election year to hold such debates. In response, the commission defended its decision, stating that it had selected September 16 after thoroughly studying early voting rules in every state.
Additionally, Biden’s campaign claimed that the CPD was “unable or unwilling to enforce the rules,” citing Trump’s alleged breach of debate rules during the 2020 elections and his inadequate COVID-19 testing before the event. The Biden campaign, the CPD, and VSU were reached out to by The Washington Examiner for comment, but there has been no response from them as of yet.