Lafayette College will not host the vice presidential debate after the Commission on Presidential Debates canceled all commission-sponsored debates on Monday. The announcement comes weeks after President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump opted out of CPD-sponsored debates, choosing instead to participate in debates hosted by CNN, ABC News and CBS News.
“Lafayette respects the decision of the CPD and appreciates that it has enjoyed national and international media attention over the last several months as a result of the CPD’s having chosen the College as its VP debate location,” an announcement reads in the Lafayette Today, which was emailed to campus on Tuesday.
“It is unfair to ask the four campuses to continue to prepare for their debates, as they have been doing since their November 2023 selection,” said Antonia Hernandez and Frank Fahrenkopf in a news release, the co-chairs of the CPD.
“We are grateful to the sites, and we are sorry to come to this decision,” the release continued.
The college “plans to host a variety of civic and artistic events that were slated to occur on campus around the time of the VP debate,” according to the Lafayette Today announcement.
