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Biden says he will debate Trump before election after earlier reluctance

This combination of photos show President Donald Trump, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate on Sept. 29, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio. Twelve news organizations issued a joint statement calling on the presumptive presidential nominees President Biden and former President Trump to agree to debates during the 2024 campaign. ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, PBS, NBC, NPR and The Associated Press all signed on to the letter. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

WASHINGTON — President Biden said Friday he will face off with former President Donald Trump on the debate stage ahead of their rematch on Nov. 5 — ending speculation after the 81-year-old president said last month that it “depends on his behavior.”

“I am somewhere, I don’t know when, but I am happy to debate him,” Biden told satellite radio host Howard Stern in a rare, wide-ranging interview lasting more than one hour.

Trump 2024 campaign adviser Chris LaCivita was quick to respond to Biden’s remarks, posting on X: “Let’s set it up!”

The candidates debated twice during the 2020 campaign, with then-President Trump hammering the Democrat on policy and alleging that he was corrupt.

The Commission on Presidential Debates has tentatively scheduled three showdowns ahead of the general election: Sept. 16 in San Marcos, Texas, Oct. 1 in Petersburg, Va., and Oct. 9 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Polls show broad bipartisan concern about whether Biden is too old to hold office. He already is the oldest-ever president and would be 86 if he completes a full second term.

Trump, 77, leads Biden in most national and swing-state polls, but surveys show a criminal conviction could diminish his support — as rising inflation and interest rates, as well as record-breaking illegal immigration, are among Biden’s worst-polling liabilities.

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