Mere hours after President Joe Biden announced his demands, designed to switch up the dated, late-in-the-fall debate schedule run by the presidential commission on debates, Donald Trump leapt to it and agreed to Biden’s proposal — to set debates before early voting starts, in June and September.
As my colleague David Kurtz noted this morning, Biden’s decision to take the initiative and propose a schedule in line with what Trump has been claiming he wanted was perhaps designed to throw Trump off balance as he juggles campaigning in between his busy criminal trial schedule. Not one to be caught sleeping on a day off from court, Trump responded right away by agreeing to the debates — one hosted by CNN on June 27 and one on Sept. 10, broadcast by ABC News.
But Trump also tried to one-up Biden and fumbled. Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday afternoon, saying he had agreed to a debate with Biden hosted by Fox News in October and moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCullum. It’s unclear if the Fox News debate proposal originated with Fox News or Donald Trump’s brain. The language was weird, as if he was demanding Biden accept his offer, as he had accepted Biden’s.
Biden’s team is not playing along.
“President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in an afternoon statement. “No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates.”
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I think the Fox Debate is a non-starter. Biden proposed two and two it is. The real issue is will Trump agree to fair rules that require the candidates to actually debate. Trump should be denied any opportunity to strut around the stage with his chest puffed out like Mussolini. He should agree to his mic being turned off while Biden is talking.
There is always time to reconsider later in the summer.
Lovely, Trump knee jerked and fumbled in public view. And Biden is keeping the upper hand, playing straight and keeping him to the program.
Yep, they have been thinking DJT through on a deep level. I expect Trump to start blathering in ways we may not have seen. He is off center and I am not sure he will recover from here out. He got owned and he is not used to that.
The great draft dodger’s bone spurs will keep him from the debates.
Problem for Trump is, Joe beat him to it.
Now Trump looks weak. Which he is. And stupid. And venal. And unfaithful. And did I mention stupid?
And he’s a failure. He won in 2016, but he needed a foreign country’s help to do it.
Since then (like R-Nikki Haley says), he’s done nothing but lose. Lost congress in 2018. Lost the white house. Even lost the coup. Then he hampered the R-congress comeback in 2022. He lost to E. Jean Carroll. Twice. Lost the TrumpOrg case. Owes over $600,000,000, with another $100,000,000 bill coming from the IRS.
And now he owns an entire political party. Owns the RNC. R-Congressers are coming to his criminal trial, and fawning over him.
And he will still run that completely and utterly into the ground.
Like a goddamned drunk Kamikazi.
Fixed it for you.