It's unfortunate that the quote of the night come from Trump: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence and I don't think he knows what he said either."
I think the most brutal thing Trump could've done is *exactly what he did.*
Explanation: If Trump lays into Biden, Biden has an out for the poor performance. He could have been insulted continuously by Trump, and ended up with more support or sympathy for the performance. As it stands, Trump essentially took a page out of Biden's 2016 playbook: Lay back and let the other guy screw himself over. And it worked. Couple that with the microphones being cut--something I would argue that played much better for Trump than Biden--and 90% of the harm Biden sustained was self-inflicted. If the Democrats have a brain working right now, they would be smart to allow the next(?) debate in September to revert to 2016-era rules. Let Trump bluster and embarrass himself by flouting the rules, talking over Biden, etc.
The funniest part is Biden's team actually created the rules/format for that debate, Trump's team just agreed to it. It turned out to be the most perfect format for Trump.
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u/siraolo 6d ago
It's unfortunate that the quote of the night come from Trump: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence and I don't think he knows what he said either."