The Commission on Presidential Debates has presented four debates on the 2024 calendar, including three for the major party nominees and one for vice presidential candidates. Voters, however, are likely to be disappointed if they expect the debates to move forward as planned. Biden’s campaign is almost certain to manufacture excuses to protect their octogenarian incumbent from the prime-time spotlight for three reasons: Biden’s cognition has demonstrably declined, more evidence implicating the president in criminal influence-peddling has put Biden under a congressional impeachment inquiry, and the RNC is finally demanding fair treatment with an impartial forum.

With roughly three-quarters of American voters and “half of Democrats” possessing serious reservations about Biden’s mental and physical health, according to an NBC News survey, Biden is unlikely to risk hours on a live debate stage with Trump. This time, Biden would certainly be antagonized with more questions about his family’s business schemes that he can’t escape. The president might blame Russia again over the allegations of corruption that surfaced from his son’s abandoned Delaware laptop, but even legacy news outlets have finally authenticated the computer years after the election.