TRUMP WILL DEBATE BIDEN--AS LONG AS HE GETS HIS WAY
Late last year, Donald Trump appeared to be setting the stage to bow out of presidential debates, suggesting to advisers they were rigged against him. The president told aides at the time that he “does not trust” the nonpartisan commission that has sponsored the debates for more than three decades, the New York Times reported, and was particularly concerned about who would moderate the contests. But more recently, in an apparent effort to portray himself as unafraid to face Joe Biden at the podium, Trump has reversed course somewhat; after initially hedging about whether the president would debate at all, his campaign is now calling for more debates and for them to begin sooner. But this, like so much of what Trump does, seems to be in bad faith. In trying to rewrite the debate rules, the president is making clear that he’s afraid to square off against the presumptive Democratic nominee unless he does so on his terms.
The Trump campaign last week pressed the Commission on Presidential Debates to add a fourth debate—one more than is customary—and for them to begin around Labor Day to accommodate for an expected increase in early voting due to the coronavirus crisis. “We want fair debates,” Trump campaign manager Brad Pascale said in a statement. “As many Americans as possible need to see the stark differences between the accomplishments and leadership of President Trump and the failed record and sleepiness of Joe Biden.” But the campaign’s real concern still seems to be with the moderator. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, is of course involved in this, and in a meeting with campaign and debate officials proposed that the two campaigns be able to recommend moderators, drawing accusations from Biden’s camp that the incumbent is threatening not to participate in the debates unless he can pick the host.
On Monday, the Biden campaign shot back, announcing the Democrat would participate in the three debates the Commission scheduled in October 2019 for this coming September and October, and criticized Team Trump for its ever-changing position on the debates. “Joe Biden looks forward to facing Donald Trump in a multi-debate series that the American people have come to expect from their leaders,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a letter to the CPD obtained by the Washington Post. “We hope that President Trump will not break that tradition or make excuses for a refusal to participate.”
It’s unclear where that leaves things. Tim Murtaugh, Trump’s campaign manager, accused Democrats of being afraid to send Biden out on stage to debate Trump. But as Biden advisor Ronald Klain pointed out, it’s actually Trump that has so far not agreed to any debates and is presumably hoping for friendly moderators. “He is insisting on changing the dates, and picking the moderators,” Klain tweeted. “Biden has agreed to participate in the CPD dates with neutral moderators.”
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He’s just a spoiled brat. Stomping is little feet.
TRUMPLETHINSKIN IS MY NAME!!!
The Cone of Silence.
