Presidential debates are a crucial element in the democratic process, and they're deeply ingrained in the psyche of the American voter. Voters want to see the candidates face off in an unfiltered exchange to evaluate not only their policies and their ability to articulate them, but also the candidates’ competence.
Donald Trump is anxious to face Joe Biden on the debate stage. “He and I have to definitely debate. That’s what I love. The two of us have to debate,” Trump said last June.
However, the Biden campaign has been noncommittal about the idea Joe Biden debating Trump this fall.
"To be honest with you, we haven't really had any substantive conversations about that yet," Michael Tyler, the Biden campaign's communications director, admitted last year.
Of course, things have changed since then. Donald Trump leads in both national and battleground state polls, and has the advantage on most of the issues that matter to the voters. Simply put, it is widely accepted that if the election were held today Donald Trump would win.
Under normal circumstances the underdog candidate would welcome the opportunity to debate in the hopes that it could change the trajectory of the race. But, these are not normal circumstances, and it’s extremely unlikely that Biden will ever agree to debate Trump.
Last week, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy revealed that Joe Biden is far more dependent on following a script that people realize.
“He still has a teleprompter when you meet behind closed doors,” McCarthy said during an appearance on FOX Business. “But the teleprompter are cards. I found when I met with him, it would just be a couple of them. He would read from the card.”
Any deviation from the script is a problem for Biden, according to McCarthy.
“He just sticks to the cards,” McCarthy explained. “And if you go, if you deviate from the cards, he can’t continue onward there.
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“Look, he has served the country, regardless whether you like it or not. I respect the man for serving the country. I thank him for that service, but he is not of the age that is best to be able to be serving in the presidency, especially the position that he is to going forward with what I have watched to serve again.”
This is not the only report of Biden’s heavy reliance on a script to get through negotiations and events.
Axios previously reported on Biden's tendency to consult notecards, particularly following interactions with pre-selected donors posing questions in closed-door events.
"President Biden has been using notecards in closed-door fundraisers, calling on prescreened donors and then consulting his notes to provide detailed answers, according to people familiar with the routine,” the outlet reported. "Why it matters: Biden's reliance on notecards to help explain his own policy positions — on questions he knows are coming — is raising concerns among some donors about Biden's age."
Does this sound like a man who will debate Trump this fall? It sure doesn’t to me. A debate between the two men is likely only to make Biden’s problems worse. He can’t read off of a teleprompter and he can’t bring notecards. He’ll be up there by himself. It won’t be a softball interview with someone trying to help him win; it’ll be a duel with Trump, who wants his job.
