Trump Complains No One Took Him Up On His Offer to Debate the ‘RIGGED’ 2020 Election, Claims Would Be ‘Ratings Machine’

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Former President Donald Trump doubled down Thursday on his challenge to debate the validity of the 2020 presidential election on television.

In a statement released via email by his Save America Pac, Trump said, “Has it been at all noticed that I offered to debate anybody, on television or otherwise, about the RIGGED Presidential Election of 2020.”

While state audits and investigations of election fraud have turned up no evidence that the 2020 presidential election was inaccurate, Trump continues to claim it was: a narrative that has been dubbed the “big lie” by his critics.

Trump, known for his harsh criticism of the media, also took a swipe at cable news’ flailing ratings. “This was a publicly stated challenge—I have been called a “ratings machine,” and therefore would be good for television economics—which have not been doing so well lately,” Trump added.

Trump first challenged “anyone” to debate him about the validity of the 2020 election in November and didn’t receive any major takers at the time. The Washington Post’s Philip Bump wrote at the time “the proposition is that some gullible television network somewhere enjoy the ‘ratings bonanza’ of a ‘public debate’ on the ‘facts, not the fiction’ of what happened in the 2020 election.”

Bump argued that Trump’s challenge foreshadows “the real challenge for the media [that] will come in a few months, should Trump decide to seek the Republican nomination in 2024.”

“We should remember why Trump is making this request, though. In part because he likes TV cameras, yes. But it’s also because he needs to keep elevating the idea that this is a crisis and a crime,” Bump said. “And, 12 months on, protests in call-in interviews with Sean Hannity aren’t going to do the trick.”

How the media will cover another Trump run, particularly in relation to his ongoing claims that the 2020 election was rigged, which sows doubt in the legitimacy of any future votes, is a major question plaguing journalists.

Here is the rest of Trump’s statement:

With all the bravado out there, I have not had one credible person willing to stand up and debate me in order to defend the CROOKED election. All involved, like those on the Unselect Committee of January 6th, know that it is a losing proposition for them. The election numbers are not defensible. Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, and probably New Hampshire, Minnesota, New Mexico, and others were all won, and in some cases big, by a certain Republican Presidential Candidate, me. So, after one month, a very public offer to debate, I have no takers—not even the sleazebags you see on the January 6th Commission who speak with such fake reverence about the day. This is Cancel Culture. They think they got away with the Crime of the Century, and they don’t want it to be talked about or discussed. Look at what has happened to our Country, and what a shame it is!