When I look at the state of the 2024 presidential election, I'm confident that voters will send Donald Trump back to the White House so that he can get the country back on track. Of course, there's still plenty of time between today and the presidential election, so anything can happen. But if what we learned today is true, Trump will be happy.
For months now, the Biden campaign has been laying the groundwork for Biden to refuse to participate in debates and blame Trump for it. The Biden campaign has been conspicuously noncommittal to participating in any presidential debates — so much so that earlier this month, major news organizations issued a joint statement urging both candidates to "publicly commit" to participating in the general election debates.
Obviously, it was mostly a plea to Biden, because Trump has been on record many times about wanting to debate Biden. He has even called for more than the standard three debates, and he wants them to take place earlier. The Biden campaign, however, has refused to say one way or another if Biden will debate Trump.
Can you blame the campaign? Biden can barely read a teleprompter or handle a softball interview without embarrassing himself. Could he really handle multiple debates with Trump, even just one?
Related: Forget the Matchup Polls. This Number Is What Should Terrify Team Biden.
During an interview on SiriusXM Friday morning, Howard Stern asked Biden about the possibility of debating Trump.
"I don't know if you're going to debate your opponent," Stern said.
"I am, somewhere, I don't know when," Biden replied. I'm happy to debate him."
🚨 Crooked Joe Biden says he's "happy to debate" President Trump.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 26, 2024
His handlers must be furious! pic.twitter.com/eOS9zm0G0U
You can probably imagine the collective gasp that likely took place among Biden's campaign advisors when he said that. Now that Biden is on record saying that he's happy to debate Trump, it will look even worse if he backs out.
The first presidential debate that the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) has organized is set to take place on Monday, Sept. 16, at Texas State University in San Marcos. The next debate is slated for Tuesday, Oct. 1, at Virginia State University in Petersburg, and then the final debate is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. However, the Trump campaign is calling for debates to take place before early voting starts.
The Biden team certainly understands how a debate could destroy his already struggling campaign. In 2022, Sen. John Fetterman's (D-Pa.) poll numbers tanked after his disastrous debate performance with Dr. Mehmet Oz. The only upside for him was that since so many had already voted in the election, it didn't matter.
In light of Biden's comments, it will be even tougher for the campaign to back out of the debates. Biden likely believes he can handle Trump, but his handlers most certainly know better and want to minimize any possibility of a disastrous performance. Biden's public performances lately have been, to put it kindly, less than stellar, while Trump appears to be very much in his element.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member