Biden Offers to Debate Trump, With Terms, Shunning the Debate Commission

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/us/politics/biden-trump-debates.html

33 comments

  1. Tl;Dr conditions:

    >They want the debate to occur inside a TV studio

    >microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit elapses.

    >just the two candidates and the moderator — no audience or third party candidates

  2. >Mr. Biden and his top aides want the debates to start much sooner than the dates proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates, so voters can see the two candidates side by side well before early voting begins in September. They want the debate to occur inside a TV studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit elapses. And they want it to be just the two candidates and the moderator — without the raucous in-person audiences that Mr. Trump feeds on and without the participation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or other independent or third-party candidates.

    Mr.Biden?

  3. Trump’s campaign will find some way to say the terms are unfair and blame Biden for there being no debates.

  4. “Heard you’re free on Wednesdays.”

    I like Dark Brandon.

  5. No “audience” to cheer at Trump’s response?

    and Trump can’t ramble on past his 2 minutes?

    Trump will NOT debate Biden under these terms.

    Snowflake and a coward.

  6. “I tried to debate Biden but the judge won’t let me do anything.”

  7. I would love it if they debated and Biden baited trump into a few gag order violations and he went to jail because of it… that would be historic!

  9. Yeah, this won’t happen. Trump talks a lot, but his words are meaningless. He’d rather have a crowd that he can get riled up on bullshit.

  10. Oh man, judging by that headline alone I’d bet MAGA Haberman is one of the authors (checks article) LOL! Of course she is! Weird how the NYTimes reporter outed as working with the Trump camp just yesterday in court is pushing a “this is bad for Biden” take on this.

  11. If there is an audience, Biden should bring all the women who have accused Trump of rape.

  14. We also need a full team of fact checkers and Maury in the room to go “Mr Trump, you said ________ and the fact checkers determined that was a lie.”

  15. With these terms, I feel like the debate could be about policy. Which would be terrible for Trump.

  17. Only makes sense seeing that the [RNC already quit the Commission in April.](https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092916451/republicans-say-theyre-quitting-the-biased-commission-on-presidential-debates)

    “In 1987, the Commission on Presidential Debates was established jointly by the Democratic and Republican parties to ensure that debates between the leading candidates for the President of the United States were a permanent part of the electoral process.
    Now, the Republican National Committee has voted unanimously to leave the CPD, ending more than three decades of bipartisan civic cooperation.”

  18. As much as I want to see it for the spectacle, it wouldn’t be much of a debate.

    Biden will press Trump on his platform and policies, which amount to “Stay out of jail and be a dictator”, and Trump will ignore that and spend his allotted time accusing Biden of “illegal lawfare”.

    Now, what would be interesting is if instead of a debate, they did a game show where the contestants – Biden and Trump – are asked basic questions about civics and economics and the running score is displayed onscreen.

    If they didn’t want to make it a complete landslide in Biden’s favor, they could throw in some “identify this animal” questions too.

  19. As someone who got involved in politics in 2016, I can honestly say that the debates have been the biggest dissapointment, the biggest letdown, compared to my expectations. I thought it would be like the ultimate intellectual battle, like a high school debate on steroids. Instead, it was TMZ. Wastes of time, wastes of information, wastes of effort. I fucking never saw one good thing come from a debate outside of “Just shut up man” and the fly.

    If they can’t turn these into actual debates about IDEAS then why even fucking do them.

  20. Trump’s only debate strategy is to bulldoze, so the mic cutting rule will be a deal breaker

  21. “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”

    Edit: Am I missing something? Why am I getting Reddit Cares messages?

  22. Dear Joe,

    We are sorry that we are unable to make the planned upon debate. Inmate Trump is currently dealing with unforseen mobility issues that prevent him from traveling.

    Thank you,
    The Trump Team

  23. This is a smart play by Biden. Trump is too much of an attention hog to refuse.

  24. Bluff to make him look like a tough guy. Biden knows Trump won’t debate him unless he has to. Especially with no crowd to pander to.

  25. I mean…the debate commission has done a pretty shitty job

  26. Hm. So weird that the NYT story just happens to repeat anti-Biden talking points multiple times:

    >a successor Mr. Trump has portrayed, and hopes to reveal, as too feeble to hold the job.

    and

    >accused Mr. Biden of being “afraid of crowds.”

    and

    >most battleground-state polls show the president trailing Mr. Trump and struggling to persuade voters that he’s an effective leader and steward of the economy.

    and

    >polls show that Mr. Biden currently trails Mr. Trump and that his messages on core issues like the economy are not resonating with enough voters.

    and

    >Mr. Trump leads Mr. Biden in most polls of battleground states, including the recent surveys by The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Significantly more voters trust Mr. Trump over Mr. Biden to handle the economy.

    and

    >The Trump campaign believes, almost to a person, that Mr. Biden has declined significantly since 2020 and would be exposed in a debate against Mr. Trump.

    Although I guess to be fair they do mention Trump debating last time while he had COVID:

    >He was aggressive and constantly interrupting, while sweating and appearing unwell.

    and

    >announcing soon after the debate that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

    So I guess that’s “balance”.

  27. I don’t like the way the debate commission manages debates either. Why do they get to decide the terms?

  28. Honestly mic cutoff should be a norm in debates, Trump abused talking over the others for years, his constant “NASTY!” over Clinton talking every time in 2016 and then the whataboutism on Biden in 2020.

    The last two debates in Canada (2019 and 2021) were a disaster too, all kinds of talking over each other that it was so embarrassing to watch.

  29. You are all wrong guaranteed the biggest issue is the cutting off the mics. I guarantee that fat orange fuck has a major major problem with that.

  30. Trump doesn’t want his slurred speech exposed. Biden needs to bully and taunt the fuck out of him for being afraid to face him. He needs to take to twitter and challenge him to a debate every single day. Actually reserve and set up the event space every single day. Stop assuming the public knows anything about how debates are arranged and just go for the theater. Trumps power is that he knows just how gullible the public is.

  32. Biden should insist on the drug test that trump repeatedly demands.

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