By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump, who has refused to debate any of his rivals for the Republican nomination, on Monday said he wanted to debate U.S. President Joe Biden immediately.
“I’d like to debate him now because we should debate. We should debate for the good of the country,” Trump said on a radio show hosted by conservative commentator Dan Bongino.
When asked by reporters during a trip to Las Vegas on Monday about Trump calling for a debate, Biden, a Democrat, said: “If I were him, I would want to debate me too. He’s got nothing to do.”
Although the overwhelming frontrunner in the Republican race to challenge Biden in the Nov. 5 election, Trump has yet to sew up the nomination and has turned down Republican rival Nikki Haley’s request that he debate her.
In response to Trump’s comments, Haley’s campaign said in a statement that he was “too chicken” to debate her.
“Now it’s time for Trump to man up and agree to debate Nikki Haley. Nikki is ready to put her conservative record and vision for a strong and proud America up against Trump’s campaign of chaos and vendettas,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said.
Trump’s comments reflect a desire to focus on a likely election matchup with Biden, who on Saturday won the South Carolina Democratic primary and is expected to win his party’s nomination.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador under Trump, is running a distant second to Trump in opinion polls but has vowed to go on challenging him for the nomination.
Trump and Biden debated twice during the 2020 race. A third debate was canceled after Trump tested positive for COVID-19 and declined to participate in a virtual event. Traditionally, there are three presidential debates.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, and Jarrett Renshaw in Las Vegas; Editing by Howard Goller and Stephen Coates)
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