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The Conversation
The Conversation
Politics
Gibbs Knotts, Professor of Political Science, College of Charleston

Yes, debates do help voters decide – and candidates are increasingly reluctant to participate

John Kennedy Donald Trump Robert F. Kennedy Jr Jimmy Carter Richard Nixon Joe Biden Republican Abraham Lincoln Ronald Reagan Adlai Stevenson
Republican nominee Donald Trump gestures as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton looks on during the final presidential debate in 2016. Mark Ralston/ AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump’s threat to skip the first Republican presidential debate, scheduled for Aug. 23, 2023, may be a sign that candidate debates will be the next casualty in the highly polarized political environment in the United States.

For Trump, the leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refusing to participate in a debate is nothing new. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he skipped a general election debate because it was moved online.

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