Lily KepnerAustin American-Statesman
Weeks after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump publicly criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates, opting instead to participate in media-produced forums, the organization officially canceled its planned debates for the general election, including one at Texas State University.
The university was set to be the first in Texas to host a presidential debate and planned to spend $5 million to make the event possible.
“Given the letter dated May 15, 2024, from Jen O’Malley Dillon, Campaign Chair for the Biden-Harris Campaign, in which the Biden-Harris Campaign informed the Commission that President Biden will not agree to debate under the sponsorship of the Commission during the 2024 general election campaign, it is unfair to ask the four campuses to continue to prepare for their debates, as they have been doing since their November, 2023 selection," commission co-Chairs Antonia Hernández and Frank Fahrenkopf said in a statement.
"We are grateful to the sites, and we are sorry to come to this decision," they said. "We are dismayed that students of the four campuses will not have the opportunity to participate in these historic voter education forums.”
After Biden and Trump, the presumptive presidential nominees, agreed to participate in alternative debates, Texas State in San Marcos stopped planning and spending funds to organize its event "to be good stewards of public funds and resources," the university said in a statement.
Records obtained by the American-Statesman detailing the university's agreement and application to host a debate indicate that Texas State paid a site fee of $2.7 million to the commission to offset production costs. According to the agreement, in the event of a cancellation, the commission agrees to “refund those funds or contributions that have not been spent, expended or committed prior to the cancellation.”
It is not yet publicly clear what amount of Texas State's site fee the commission has spent, or what stage in the reimbursem*nt process the parties are in. Texas State and the commission declined to comment further or answer questions about the reimbursem*nt.
More: Texas State was set to host first presidential debate. How Biden, Trump upended that plan.
"While receiving this official news is disappointing, we understand the CPD’s position," Texas State President Kelly Damphousse said in a statement. “As the only Texas university to have graduated a U.S. president, we were excited to host the first-ever presidential debate in our great state. We are also proud to be the only Hispanic Serving Institution chosen to host a presidential debate." Damphousse was referring to 1930 graduate Lyndon B. Johnson.
Why were the Commission on Presidential Debates' forums canceled?
In a rare presidential rematch, both the Biden and Trump campaigns carried grievances against the commission from the 2020 election ― the Biden campaign accused the nonprofit of allowing Trump to repeatedly interrupt Biden against its rules, and the Republican National Committee accused the organization of bias and withdrew in 2022. Both also said the debates, which would have been held after early voting had begun in some states, were coming too late.
Last month, the candidates said they would instead attend debates hosted by CNN and ABC. The CNN debate is set for 7 p.m. Thursday night, and ABC is hosting its event Sept. 10. Texas State's debate was scheduled for Sept. 16.
The commission, a nonpartisan organization established in 1987 to host the presidential debates, said in a May statement that the Texas State debate would be the "earliest televised general election debate ever held." In a statement Monday announcing the cancellation, it said it has hosted 33 debates on higher education campuses.
Candidates aren't mandated to participate in commission-sponsored debates, but the organization has successfully produced debates in each presidential election since 1988.
“The reason for the CPD’s creation remains compelling: a neutral organization with no other role during the general election is well-positioned to offer formats that focus on the candidate and the issues that are most important to the American people," Hernández and Fahrenkopf's statement continued.
More: An honor and an expense: How Texas State University landed a U.S. presidential debate
The commission co-chairs said the organization is willing to produce the debates if the campaigns reconsider their positions, and Damphousse said Texas State will continue to support students' political knowledge.
"We remain steadfast in supporting our students and the entire university community as they continue to learn about democracy, to engage in civil discourse, and to participate in the electoral process throughout the upcoming election cycle," Damphousse said.
