How Biden deprived Trump of a key debating asset

[Tom of Temecula]

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to two presidential debates — one hosted by CNN in Atlanta on June 27, the second hosted by ABC News on September 10. One of Biden's conditions for the two debates is that there will be no live audience — just the candidates and the moderators.

According to Politico's Jonathan Lemire, Biden's reelection team believes that an "empty studio" will "deprive their GOP rival of a major advantage when they face off." A Biden adviser, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Politico, "Trump feeds off the crowd, they give him life. We wanted to take that away." Trump, at his MAGA rallies, loves to work the crowd.

But according to Democratic strategist/consultant and former Barack Obama adviser David Axelrod, a controlled debate environment is an advantage for Biden. Axelrod told Politico, "I think it does matter. I mean, if you watch Trump, that is a big part of how he energizes himself. And so, I think that it will have some impact on him that he can't play to the crowd and doesn't have that kind of energy — that sort of modular energy that a crowd offers."

Axelrod continued, "I think that the Biden people, they won in negotiations on three points: It's a debate without a crowd, it's a debate without any third-party candidates, and it's an early debate. And those three things make it about as good a situation as he's gonna get."

https://www.alternet.org/Bank/biden-trump-debates-politico/

[Srkdqltr]

1. Wish they would stop calling it a debate. I don't know what it is but it isn't debate.

[yardwork]

6. I've always been aggravated by that misrepresentation.

There haven't been actual presidential debates in my living memory.

[ShazzieB]

18. I don't think they'll ever stop calling it that. It's too entrenched, for one thing.

Also, the word debate has multiple meanings, some of which I think do apply. There's a formal definition of what constitutes a debate, which I agree doesn't really fit. However the word is also used in an informal way with a variety of meanings.

Here's how one major dictionary defines debate (edited for brevity):

Noun[/u
: a contention by words or arguments
: a regulated discussion of a proposition

Verb
1
a: to argue about
b: to engage (an opponent) in debate
2
: to turn over in one's mind : to think about (something, such as different options) in order to decide

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/debate

If you Google "debate definition," you'll find lots more, some of which arguably do fit what goes on at the events we call presidential debates. No, they're not debates in the formal sense of the word, but in an informal sense, I don't think it's completely off-base to call them that.

[WarGamer]

19. Two men talking over each other looking to deliver the zinger line written by someone else.

Yes, there are no modern debates.

[Grins]

27. Agree. Its sole purpose is to generate sound bites.

It is designed not to DEBATE issues. High school debate coaches and judges would nail any debate team if a debater tried to change the subject or made an ad hominem attack.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Pundits telling the public what it knew all along

and media selling it as novel opinion.

[yardwork]

7. This is one reason they pump up Trump.

Without a close race they have nothing to report.

[Monsieur_Grumpe]

3. They should draw a circle around his podium

and end the debate if he steps out of it,

[Funtatlaguy]

8. And erect plexiglas to contain the smell 👃

[captain queeg]

26. Pour salt on the circle. Demons can't cross the salt line, or so it is said.

[Martin68]

4. Exactly. The Biden administration launched the prefect pre-emptive attack.

[DownriverDem]

5. Just like

it used to be. It will really show how litttle trump knows. All he's got is insults. What he does offer like dictator on day one is horrifying.

[DFW]

9. Oh. That. I thought that Biden was going to demand that it be conducted entirely in English.

That would put Trump at a crippling disadvantage.

[AZ8theist]

13. HAHAHA!! Good one!

[returnee]

20. He's thoroughly proficient in gibberish.

Fortunately, Biden is not.

[DFW]

23. Trump definitely sets a precedent

The first presidential candidate who is more comfortable ordering covfefe in Nambia than tea in Teterboro.

[returnee]

24. He's playing reverse Limbo.

He keeps lowering the bar but going over it instead of under it.

[DFW]

25. Yes, it's easy to go from 1 to 2 on a scale of 100,

…..and then say you’ve doubled your performance.

[Fla Dem]

10. Also turning off the speakers' mic when their time is up.

This will keep the Turd from talking over Biden.

[KS Toronado]

11. Thought these debates were going to be the first ones where the moderators

don't get to ask the questions, their only function being to turn mikes off and on and to tell TSF to shut up.
Instead of using the term moderators, we should call them bailiffs. Let's see who is knowledgeable and
can think under pressure.

Hope Biden's first question is "How did I steal the last election from you?"

[NoMoreRepugs]

12. Just provide on site and instant fact-checking - the Orange ShitStain would be destroyed by the FACTS.

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. I agree completely as far as removing an audience for the discussion.

I am just still a bit lost as to why a group of howler monkeys hooting for their leader, which means nothing to anyone except the howler monkeys, are so feared. Let them in and let the circus begin. Let those swing voters see what this 'party' is made of. Let them see the hate and the inability to form a complete sentence. The more they show their crazy, the more the American people get to see the reality of a rethug majority in our government. It will no longer be a democracy nor a republic. It will be Thunderdome. It will be the New American Empire! (registered)

We know what Biden and a Democratic Congress will be able to do. We know that the Democratic Party is the only thing going as far as reality and reason today. We don't need to parade around showing adulation they way they do. Our support and agreement to help Biden's agenda is our 'adulation'. Our prosperity is our adulation. But, those so-called 'human beings'? They are nothing but a group of dumb piranhas who suffer from severe Duning Kruger. If you were to toss a ham downstream, they would immediately rush off to swarm all over it. 'Fickle' is not even the beginning of a description of these people's ability to process reality.

Trump is the ham (no pun intended), why are we not 'throwing him downstream' (as in put his sorry, lying ass in jail as we would have done to anyone else after multiple gag order violations as well as scheming with his clown posse to attack people in plain sight).Once he is removed from the public eye, his sycophants will run and gather around the next slime ball who validates their ignorance and violent tendencies.

We are either equal or we are not.

(P.S.: As to those who are concerned that the unwashed masses might become violent, consider that this would be a discussion between a sitting President and a former one. Just over load that city block with Secret Service who are ready for bear. I mean, hand picked by the Biden Administration to be there to ensure that it will be an orderly discussion. The sight of watching those hooting gibbons being arrested and dragged out of the hall, especially as they always seem to have contraband on them because they all think they are 'patriots', might just make me c... umm... consider dancing around in joy.)

[Uncle Joe]

15. I disagree. The greatest advantage that President Biden will get from a debate

without a mass, one way televised audience, cheering and jeering at insults and gotcha shit is that it reduces the potential for corporate media emotional manipulation turning Presidential debates into American Idol.

It should be no surprise that after decades of using that non-nonsensical approach to electing the most powerful person in the land, that the Republican Party has found their idol.

It's the same idol that Charlton Heston threw his Ten Commandments at much to Edward G. Robinson's chagrin.

It will be the American People that get the greatest advantage from this change, not any candidate for the office, it will actually become more like a public job interview.

Thanks for the thread Tom

[Raven123]

16. I wish the advisor hadn't discussed this.

I agree with no audience. In fact I no longer watch debates with a live audience. Too much like a sporting event rather than the serious questions of where candidates stand on issues. However, the self congratulations over this tactical maneuver because of it’s perceived impact on TFG’s performance is silly.

[Ligyron]

17. Presidents should not debate accused criminals.

Period.

If it was allowed at all, Trump should have to Zoom in from pre trial confinement because that’s where any of us would be had we pulled even a third of the shit he has.

[Deuxcents]

28. I have voiced the same opinion but..here we are.

He’s being afforded the traditional presidential election activities that he does not deserve.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

21. How do you shut up an Italian?

Tie their hands behind their back.

That is what Joe Biden did to TSF. Take away the crowd, you level the playing field. Brilliant move on.Joe's part.

[spanone]

22. I doubt trmp will abide by any 'agreements'.

Claiming it's .....rigged of course.