Right after Nikki Haley finally dropped out of the Republican primary after Super Tuesday, former President Donald Trump renewed his call for a debate between himself and President Joe Biden on Truth Social.
Trump's strategy here is pretty obvious: Biden's senility and inability to speak are clear as day, no matter how much the mainstream media tries to deny or downplay it, and debating Trump on a public stage will dispel whatever vestige of credibility the media has on the subject. Plus, Trump would get to publicly humiliate the guy as a nice bonus.
Naturally, the Biden campaign's communications director, Michael Tyler, issued the response on behalf of his scatterbrained master:
"I know Donald Trump's thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal beyond the MAGA base—and that's a conversation we'll have at the appropriate time in this cycle. But if he's so desperate to see President Biden in prime time, he doesn't have to wait!" He can join the tens of millions of Americans who will tune in to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night," Tyler continued. "He might even learn a thing or two about bringing people together and actually delivering for the American people."
As Matt detailed recently, Biden can't even give an address at a closed-door fundraiser without relying on cards (Leonid Brezhnev jokes come to mind), and going off-script would sink his poll numbers even faster than they are currently falling.
For Our VIPs: Don't Count on Joe Biden Debating Trump This Fall
Thus it could be Biden skipping out on the debates this time around, as Trump did during the primary, and expecting that to be a retort from the Biden camp. "Why does Trump want to debate Biden when he didn't even debate the other Republican primary members?" they will ask.
Because he did not need to. Trump was always ahead of the competition by a significant margin in every poll, and no criticism of him by the other candidates (no matter how valid) would sway his base.
"I like to debate. I probably am here because of debates. I don't mind it at all," he said. "But when you're 40 points up … Why would I let these people take shots at me?" Trump told Bret Baier over the summer.
However, he could have a new line of defense on this question now.
Trump never trashed any of his opponents for the primary once they dropped out (not even Nikki), and he frequently welcomed them aboard when they jumped on the Trump train.
As he put it after the result of Super Tuesday, courtesy of Matt again:
"We have a great Republican Party with tremendous talent, and we want to have unity, and we’re going to have unity, and it’s going to happen very quickly. And I have been saying lately, success will bring unity to our country."
Related: BREAKING: Nikki Haley Finally Decides to End Her Presidential Campaign
I'm just spitballing here, but if this question of skipping the Republican primary debates while wanting to debate Biden comes up, Trump might be able to say he wanted to get them all to realize that although they were good candidates, the wider movement remains behind Trump, and there was no need to create divisions when we need to unite and beat Biden in November.
Of course, this remains speculation and may not be in character for Trump to do, but you never know what could happen between now and November.
