Explainer: Whats the presidential debate commission? [Video]

Thursday’s presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be the first since 1988 to not be sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD).The commission has been historically tasked with planning and producing every presidential debate, including choosing the site, selecting the moderators, establishing the rules and setting the dates. The decision to go around the bipartisan organization is a huge departure from tradition. It comes after both campaigns criticized some of CPD’s rules and the organization’s schedule.Trump’s contention with CPD goes back to his first presidential campaign in 2016. Trump blamed the commission for audio issues during one of his debates with Hillary Clinton, claiming CPD was biased against him.”The problem is that the so-called Commission on Presidential Debates is stacked with Trump Haters & Never Trumpers. 3 years ago they were forced to publicly apologize for modulating my microphone in the first debate …