The first presidential general election debate is 288 days away, but Donald Trump says he may skip them, claiming the organising committee is biased and resurrecting a minor technical issue from a debate three years ago.
Included among the torrent of tweets the president posted on Monday morning was a declaration that "as President, the debates are up to [him]," and he would like to avoid the "very biased" Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-partisan organisation which has organised presidential debates since then-President Ronald Reagan faced off against former Vice President Walter Mondale during the 1988 general election.
Mr Trump wrote that he was looking forward to debating the eventual Democratic nominee next year, but claimed the commission - which was founded by former Republican National Committee chairman Frank Fahrenkopf - "is stacked with Trump Haters and Never Trumpers." He offered no evidence to support this claim.
In addition to Mr Fahrenkopf - who still serves as the commission's co-chairman - the organisation's board of directors includes a veritable who's who of American politics and media, including former Republican Senators John Danforth and Olympia Snowe, University of Notre Dame president Reverend John Jenkins,
Moreover, the commission's executive director, Janet Brown, is a Republican who served on the Senate staff of Mr Danforth and was an aide to Elliot Richardson, the Nixon-era Attorney General, when he worked at the State Department.
The Trump campaign did not respond to queries from The Independent as to why the president believes the commission to be biased against him or what debate format he might prefer as an alternative to the ones held by the commission.
In a statement to The Independent, a spokesperson for the commission called the debates "an important part of our democratic process" and defended the organisations' track record for evenhandedness.
"Since 1988, the Commission on Presidential Debates has conducted 30 general election presidential and vice presidential debates. Our record is one of fairness, balance and non-partisanship."
Next year's debates are set for September 29, October 16, and October 22 in South Bend, Indiana, Salt Lake City, Utah and Nashville, Tennessee.
