It should come as no surprise that Joe Biden’s presidential campaign won't yet commit to participating in general election debates next year. After all, would you trust Biden to face off against any Republican in one debate, let alone three? He can't even read off a teleprompter without sounding foolish, and his off-the-cuff remarks don't do him any favors either.
At this point, I think it's unlikely that Biden will participate in any general election debates.. though the campaign is pretending right now that it's still a possibility.
Quentin Fulks, Biden’s top deputy campaign manager, insisted that the campaign would "look at the schedule" that the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates released but wouldn't confirm or deny whether Joe Biden would participate in them.
“We will have those conversations,” Fulks said Wednesday at the Republican presidential primary debate. “But right now, our focus is on making sure we continue to build out a campaign and infrastructure that’s going to be able to be competitive in 2024.”
“While the Republicans remain in a divisive primary where their front-runner is not attending debates, our campaign is focusing on what we need to do to win an election next year,” he added.
I have to say that I found the mention of Trump's absence from GOP primary debates curious. Could this become a convenient justification for Biden to opt out of debating Trump next fall? The signs point in that direction.
Trump has expressed a clear intention to engage in debates with Biden if he secures the nomination. Fulks' acknowledgment of Trump's primary debate absence might signal a forthcoming strategy for rationalizing Biden's potential non-participation in the general election debates.
Related: Vivek Took a Page Out of the Democrats' Playbook
I am not a fan of Trump's decision not to participate in the GOP primary debates — even if he had a point that candidates polling at 1% or 3% didn't deserve to be on stage. Trump could easily say that he'd only participate in a debate with candidates polling at 5% or higher and that would be a reasonable condition.
Debates with lots of candidates get crazy because everyone is fighting for short moments to get a word in. A debate between Trump, DeSantis, Haley, and possibly Ramaswamy would be great, though. I'd like to see it happen.
Not only will this make Joe Biden look even more like a wimp for not participating in his own primary debates, but it could force his hand to participate in the standard three general election debates — or at the very least, make him look even worse for not participating.
For sure, Trump is going to do whatever he wants to do, and he probably sees Biden refusing to debate him as making him look even better, but wouldn't you like to see Joe Biden crumble on stage next to Trump? I know I would.
We all know that Joe Biden doesn't want to debate Trump, and we all know the reason why. While it's hard to imagine how any incumbent could refuse to debate his challenger, I can see Biden's campaign saying that if Trump couldn't debate his primary opponents, there's no reason for Biden to debate him. It may not be the best excuse, but why give Biden the excuse?
