Biden Challenges Trump to Two Debates. Trump Immediately Accepts

[u/rollingstone]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/biden-challenges-trump-debates-1235021164/

[u/AutoModerator]

As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.

In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.

If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.

For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click here to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.

We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.

---

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/OG-Gurble]

Apparently the conditions will be:

microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit expires

just the two candidates and the moderator. No audience or third party candidates

They want the debate to take place inside a TV studio

[u/SleepingManatee → u/OG-Gurble]

They need to cut him off when he interrupts too, and dock the time from his portion.

[u/mahnamahna27 → u/SleepingManatee]

If his mic is off when his time is over or not his turn, then he can't interrupt, that's the point. Hopefully they're not so close that Trump can just shout instead to interrupt

[u/khag → u/mahnamahna27]

I hope they're separated by a sound proof wall. Shit, let's just make it a remote debate, they can each be remote and the editors just switch between feeds

[u/pinky_monroe → u/khag]

Who knows…maybe Trump will have to zoom in from prison?

[u/Ok_Condition5837 → u/khag]

This. Because he tried to infect Biden with Covid last time! Let's get ahead of the curve and have protocols in place if Biden gets poisoned by Russian grade polonium for example, not just here. Please?

[u/superkickstart → u/khag]

A clear glass tube that comes down from a ceiling. Would be funny to see trump silently mouthing and fuming inside it.

[u/thomasg86 → u/mahnamahna27]

Hopefully they are. Do you know how deranged that would make Trump look? I'm all for it.

[u/mahnamahna27 → u/thomasg86]

Disagree. Anyone who cares if he appears deranged already understands what he is. His supporters would view such behaviour as 'winning'. Trump shouting out interruptions would only serve to disrupt Biden's time to speak, and create a spectacle which the media would then focus all their reporting on. It would merely be a distraction from Trump's inability to compete in what should be a sober exchange of policy positions and ideology. All Trump has is the ability to make a mockery of standards and norms, and to create media sideshows. That possibility needs to be mitigated as much as possible, so that the spotlight is fully focussed on the fact that Trump stands for nothing (except personal gain and glorification), and that he has achieved nothing of consequence.

[u/BC2220 → u/mahnamahna27]

The debate isnt for his base, though. Its for everyone else

[u/tinyhorsesinmytea → u/SleepingManatee]

No active mic while it isn’t his turn and he can just be ignored like toddler babble while the adult continues speaking.

[u/Ruby_241 → u/tinyhorsesinmytea]

But they won’t be able to ignore the smell in Trumps Diaper

[u/tinyhorsesinmytea → u/Ruby_241]

I really need a "Did you just shit yourself, man?" from Biden. He should do that regardless of whether it happens or not.

[u/Llian_Winter → u/OG-Gurble]

I'm shocked Trump would agree to that. His whole thing is built on his ability to ramble endlessly and play to a crowd. Though I guess no crowd is better than the hostile one he might get if he can't control who's in the audience.

[u/Dazzling-Map273]

Just announced on CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta as of 10:55 AM ET May 15:

Both Biden and Trump have accepted an invitation by CNN to debate June 27 at 9 PM ET at CNN's new Atlanta offices (not the CNN center). There will be no live audience.

[u/asetniop → u/Dazzling-Map273]

That's fantastic that CNN is framing them both as having accepted the terms (no audience, mic cutoff). As the hosting network that's absolutely the right thing to do from a business perspective, too; makes it harder for Trump to back out without looking like a coward.

[u/prof_the_doom → u/asetniop]

Trump will back out, and his base will say it's all Biden's/CNN's fault.

[u/acydlord → u/prof_the_doom]

"Something something Crooked Clinton News Network"

[u/tiny_poomonkey → u/acydlord]

God my uncle said that to me when Paul Ryan did the “the textbook definition of racism” speech.

I had to send him the fox version of the exact same video because it was a fucking pool camera.

He still said it wasn’t what he meant.

[u/TheRealBabyCave → u/prof_the_doom]

Nah, CNN will torpedo Biden.

It was essentially bought out by a right wing billionaire and for some reason the general public still doesn't know about it.

Edit for the doubters:

Allow me to introduce you to right-wing billionaire John Malone.

[u/MagicAl6244225 → u/TheRealBabyCave]

Ted Turner sold CNN on almost the same day Fox News went on the air. I really wish he'd been the anti-Murdoch all these years.

[u/Trygolds → u/asetniop]

Just a reminder we never needed a mic cut off in political debates until Trump. Trump does not debate. He lies bullies and shouts over his aponant. I have never heard him refing to legislation ever.

[u/rjcarr → u/Trygolds]

I feel like each side needs like five challenge options that he can press and get a live fact check. Both sides have to shut up until the fact checking is done, and after they both get one minute to clarify on the result either way. Of course, the whole thing would need to be edited and not shown live, but that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm just so tired of politicians spitting out obvious lies and then never getting challenged on it. The first one of these "challenge debates" might be a bit of a disaster, but it would set a precedent to stop lying so much in the future. At least you'd hope.

But yeah, the "cut mic" button will go a long way. It's crazy I said it would be necessary for any Trump debate, and execs actually agreed with me.

[u/xixoxixa → u/rjcarr]

Of course, the whole thing would need to be edited and not shown live

Do it live. While the on stage fact checkers are doing their thing, the TV network will already have experts lined up waiting with the facts and receipts. Canditate throws a flag, debate stops. Feed cuts to dual screen, one screen stays on debate while fact checking happens, other screen cuts in with the expert and chyrons of the facts to commentate while the live feed is essentially paused, once the debate team is ready with the facts, cut back in, resume as normal.

[u/Dr_A_Mephesto → u/xixoxixa]

This makes sense which means we will never see it happen

[u/Tribalbob → u/rjcarr]

five challenge options that he can press and get a live fact check

Biden: "Hello, my name's President Joe Biden and ..."

Trump: *Presses challenge buzzer*

[u/ZuP → u/Tribalbob]

That’s an SNL skit that writes itself.

[u/Objective_Economy281 → u/rjcarr]

Gotta do it the way the NFL does challenges: if you challenge and you are correct to challenge, then you get to keep that challenge. That way you only need two or three challenge tokens per participant.

It will slow things down a LOT if one of the participants is an imbecile and pathological liar, but hey, truth is important.

[u/1970s_MonkeyKing → u/Objective_Economy281]

You’d think truth matters. But time and again, even when faced with proof of lies and no other way to make another falsehood, we see them merely say, “I don’t care.”

EDIT: I think the only rebuttal to their intransigence is to fire back, “your parents were right. You are a waste of space.” And then just walk away.

[u/mueller723 → u/Trygolds]

It's certainly been more frequently mentioned since Trump, but people have been asking for mic cutoffs for a long time now.

[u/TrumpersAreTraitors → u/Trygolds]

Aponant 

[u/stater354 → u/Dazzling-Map273]

No live audience is a fantastic change

[u/Drone30389 → u/stater354]

Yep. It'll be great to not hear his trained monkeys cheering when he rants about how dishwashers don't give you enough water.

[u/wmurch4 → u/Drone30389]

Or how great Hannibal Lecter is

[u/Best_Biscuits → u/Dazzling-Map273]

No live audience is a good and interesting twist.

[u/myadsound]

Countdown until The Sleeping Don blames the gag order for backing out in.....3....2......1.....

[u/Mczern → u/myadsound]

I would love to debate Sleepy Joe but the debate committee is auditing my gag order folks!

[u/LotharMoH → u/Mczern]

It'll be ready in two weeks!

Narrator: it won't, like Infrastructure Week, release of taxes, etc

Edit Aww, Reddit Cares about me. Wonder how thin the reporter's skin is to harass THIS comment.

[u/butterweasel → u/LotharMoH]

It’s been happening a lot the last few days. Bot.

[u/LotharMoH → u/butterweasel]

Fair enough, just curious if this is an automated (if so what triggers the bot to report) or if this is some person manually triggering the alerts.

[u/butterweasel → u/LotharMoH]

Yeah, it’s kinda weird.

[u/snowflake37wao → u/butterweasel]

Reddit cant access its own API for the bot correctly after locking it down so hard with no good reddit dev samaritan to point out Fu/spez’s fuckups. It happens just by commenting since yesterday. Reply with STOP and it ops you out. Reddit doesnt gaf or know how to care

[u/barontaint → u/butterweasel]

I got three for trying to explain to someone that a molcajete was not an appetizer of salsa and guacamole mixed together, it's a stone vessel like a mortar and pestle, sometimes sauces and sides can be served in one, it was all from the same person, it seems to be a new tactic instead of just down voting, you can report them for sending it but not sure it does anything

[u/FadeTheWonder → u/LotharMoH]

Report it to Reddit admins they ban over that.

[u/TheTench → u/Mczern]

I would love to debate but all my word salads are under audit.

[u/wesman212 → u/TheTench]

Trump has never eaten any kind of salad

[u/[deleted] → u/TheTench]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/dcux → u/Mczern]

He's not calling him Sleepy Joe after all the court napping, is he? :)

[u/freethnkrsrdangerous → u/dcux]

Dozin' Don would never.

[u/Apostate1123 → u/freethnkrsrdangerous]

Don Snorleone

[u/lurkin_gewd → u/Apostate1123]

Donald Slump

[u/fnordal → u/dcux]

Projecting 101 says he will

[u/frankcountry → u/Mczern]

I would love to debate Sleepy Joe but the deba💤

[u/WanderingTacoShop → u/myadsound]

I'm going to bet on the excuse he used to back out last go around. "The (moderator, rules, location) is biased, they won't debate me fairly" etc. etc. until he backs out despite all of it being fairly standard debate stuff. Them cutting off his mic when it's not his turn being especially problematic for him.

[u/egosomnio → u/WanderingTacoShop]

The first one's CNN. He'll absolutely claim bias. The fact that he agreed to it with them in the first place will be ignored.

[u/artificialavocado → u/egosomnio]

What pisses me off is they will bend over backwards to be overly deferential to him and he will still say he was treated unfairly. Biggest fucking baby I have ever seen.

[u/You-Can-Quote-Me → u/artificialavocado]

Because it works.

[u/ABBAMABBA → u/artificialavocado]

That is standard issue for conservative white christian males.

[u/tomdarch → u/egosomnio]

Doesn’t CNN have a new right wing owner? Maybe Trump accepted because he knows the fix is in?

[u/SidewaysFancyPrance → u/myadsound]

Right? "Immediately accepts" doesn't mean shit because he's probably backed out of more "accepted" debates than he's attended.

[u/MudLOA → u/SidewaysFancyPrance]

Exactly. Let’s not assume this is sure thing. A Trump never keeps his promise.

[u/_BELEAF_ → u/MudLOA]

A Trump always never pays his debts...

[u/Snarl_Marx → u/myadsound]

“My attorneys won’t let me…”

[u/BanginNLeavin → u/Snarl_Marx]

But the president is immune.

[u/newfor_2024 → u/BanginNLeavin]

oh wait... Joe's the president now, not donald, so donald's not immuned but Joe is? nevermind then.

[u/Affectionate_Oven428 → u/myadsound]

For real. It’ll be the evil Dems that are somehow keeping him from debating like the stable genius he is. It’s either lies, incoherence or excuses that come out of his orange mouth hole.

[u/silverionmox → u/Affectionate_Oven428]

It’ll be the evil Dems that are somehow keeping him from debating like the stable genius he is.

He might be a genius when he's in a stable. Primus inter pares.

[u/RhythmSectionWantAd → u/myadsound]

He can't attend, he's being audited by the IRS!

[u/Affectionate_Bison26 → u/myadsound]

Biden should put in rules to cut the mic when it's not your turn, and very publicly spread doubt that trump is going to show. Like an afterschool fight, tell everyone the guy's too chicken, and he'll find an excuse like "my mommy wont let me".

[u/Duncanconstruction → u/Affectionate_Bison26]

Biden already stated three rules, and cutting the mic when your time expires was #1

[u/AydonusG → u/Duncanconstruction]

Actually it was #2, #1 was no audience, just the necessary camera and host crew.

[u/bejammin075 → u/AydonusG]

All the debate really needs is person, woman, man, camera, TV.

[u/joshdoereddit → u/bejammin075]

How did you do that? Remember those five words in that order. I'm not a doctor, but people are saying that no one is able to do that so well. I was talking to a coworker, big guy, strong guy, tears in his eyes, and he told me it was the hardest thing in his life when he tried to accomplish a feat such as this. Remarkable! Are you perhaps related to famous MIT professor Dr. John G. Trump?

[u/MudLOA → u/AydonusG]

So kind of like a Howard Stern in studio interview?

[u/AydonusG → u/MudLOA]

Possibly, it's CNN

[u/Kevin-W → u/myadsound]

A debate with no audience? I'd be very surprised if Trump accepts that. Watch him back out at the last minute.

[u/LegendaryOutlaw → u/myadsound]

The gag order, and he’s under audit, and he’ll have a debate agenda ready in two weeks.

[u/eugene20]

Trump Immediately Accepts

He also promptly won't show.

[u/enad58 → u/eugene20]

Then it's a 2 hour campaign ad for Biden on prime time network tv.

[u/watermelonspanker → u/enad58]

Are there honestly any people who are still on the fence? What purpose would an advert serve, they'll never sway the actual cult members?

[u/enad58 → u/watermelonspanker]

It's not about swaying people who vote. It's about swaying people to vote. About half the voting age population doesn't vote.

[u/Odd_Conversation_114 → u/enad58]

Are there are still people who traditionally tune out politics until the debates and then make up their minds? Seems impossible these days, but I remember those days in the before times.

Edit: to clarify, I totally think the debate is useful, I was just pondering if this type of person still existed

[u/The_Woman_of_Gont → u/Odd_Conversation_114]

I think so, though not necessarily in the way it used to.

Its less about “tuning out until debates to make up your mind,” and more that debates can make massive headlines, those headlines will generate clicks, and those clicks can generate memes and change the conversation.

Think about the “confused interviewer” meme from 2020 that is still used. That kind of moment, where Trump is just so unbelievably incoherent compared to the man next to him, is what you would hope to get from a debate to successfully change the “Biden is declining” narrative and improve chances with low-turnout voters.

If Biden pulls it off, and if Trump is in particularly bad form, it could genuinely help.

[u/oliversurpless → u/The_Woman_of_Gont]

Yep, despite how they got the media to run with it prior to “Dark Brandon”, the “dementia” claim was about as sincere as the “civility!” one from the White House in 2018.

One week they would be bandying on about “the caravan!” prior to the midterms then without skipping a beat the next week, plead for peace and calm.

What a fascinating bit of dissonance?

[u/DirkRockwell → u/Odd_Conversation_114]

People don’t have to watch the whole thing, there will be tons of clips and memes circulating around the internet giving people bite-sized exposure to Biden and his ideas

[u/CallMeNiel → u/Odd_Conversation_114]

A lot of the population is not on /r/politics.

[u/enad58 → u/Odd_Conversation_114]

There's certainly people who tune in to see the procedural de jure and instead get a debate and stick around enough to hear some of it.

[u/MudLOA → u/enad58]

It’s worse for younger adults (under age 30).

[u/HungHungCaterpillar → u/watermelonspanker]

10,000 new potential voters age into the process every day.

Don’t become jaded just because you know who he is. It will never stop mattering.

[u/mrpenchant → u/watermelonspanker]

Are there honestly any people who are still on the fence?

Yes. It's continual ignorance to act like everyone's mind has been made up. While debates aren't going to generally sway "cult members", there continues to be a high number of independent voters that do shift between parties.

Additionally as others have highlighted, getting people who support you energized to actually vote is important. If you have way more supporters but less supporters who actually vote, you'll still lose.

If advertising didn't matter there wouldn't be an expected $10 billion in political ad spend this year.

That's not to say advertising is all that matters as for example the Maryland Democratic primary just happened and the candidate who won the nomination spent 10's of millions less than their primary opponent and still won.

[u/Rizzpooch → u/enad58]

And Fox will cover the rally Trump holds instead, then they’ll selectively edit clips of Biden’s debate only show the three times he gets a trivial word wrong or stumbles inconsequentially

[u/Cody6781 → u/enad58]

Or he'll do what he did last year and schedule a "fox debate" at the exact same time.

You know, those classic debates where one person asks a question, another responds, and then they move on.

[u/BeowulfShaeffer → u/eugene20]

He will make some demands to change the format and then back out when those demands aren’t met while complaining it’s “rigged and so unfair”.

[u/Moses00711 → u/BeowulfShaeffer]

This is precisely how it will go down. Anything short of a WWE spectacle and he’s out.

[u/ikeif → u/Moses00711]

I’d be fine with John Cena busting in and taking a chair to the Orange shit gibbon.

[u/mfGLOVE → u/BeowulfShaeffer]

He will say that it’s unfair to not have an audience there, so he will not attend the debate and will schedule a rally at the exact same time. This is what he did for the Republican Presidential nominee debates. He held his own rallies at the same time. He needs a safe space everywhere he goes and a debate is very unsafe space for him.

[u/yolo___toure → u/eugene20]

Musk accepting Zuckerberg fight vibes

[u/eugene20 → u/yolo___toure]

Hah totally. Same thing Musk pulls with stocks too.
'I will never sell'. Sells. SEC investigating.

[u/Gamiac → u/eugene20]

SEC: "Looking into it"

[u/Hoplite813 → u/eugene20]

probably didn't see the stipulation about no audience and mics that cut off when your time is up.

[u/oldsguy65 → u/Hoplite813]

If he didn't try to negotiate the terms and if he "immediately" accepted the challenge, it just shows how scared he is about losing.

[u/mfGLOVE → u/eugene20]

“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate, now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again,” Biden said in a video released on social media. “Well make my day pal, I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”

[u/bjohnsonarch → u/eugene20]

✋“Make sure the COVID I have this time around is the best, most highest quality COVID so he gets it too.” 🤚🤌

[u/81305]

Donny is a coward. He will back out and blame it on his criminal trial.

[u/firewall666 → u/81305]

or blame it on his kids

[u/lovemymeemers → u/firewall666]

Did he go to Baron's graduation? Or has it happened yet?

[u/BLKVooDoo2 → u/[deleted]]

Baron's graduation is at 11am. And he isn't going to a campaign event, but a MN-GOP fundraiser. Which is at 7pm.

There is no conflict, never was.

[u/Scribblebonx → u/81305]

I don't know if he'll back out, the debates are where he can really use his obnoxious and bully behavior to stammer through and drag everyone down to his level. I am putting my money on him using this to complain about gag orders but ultimately he'll show up

[u/nyquistj → u/Scribblebonx]

One of Biden’s stipulations is that microphones be turned off when their time is up. Trump will still be obnoxious but it will at least be limited a bit.

[u/ThePowerOfStories → u/nyquistj]

Stipulation: You will just shut up, man.

[u/PopeFrancis → u/Scribblebonx]

Despite appearances, the Biden camp isn't completely clueless. They've apparently preconditioned this on several things, including mic cutting during non-speaking times. That alone could greatly impact his ability to completely specticalize the debate.

[u/PeePeeOpie → u/PopeFrancis]

And no MAGA crowd to keep cheering on their moron. It should be a pretty interesting debate, but I do wish they would add Kennedy in for a wild card.

[u/torode]

By the time the first debate which Trump will find an excuse to back out of rolls around, he will not only be a court-adjudicated rapist but also a convicted felon.

[u/Just_Candle_315 → u/torode]

If the manhattan jury returns a guilty verdict he might be in prison

[u/RobsSister → u/Just_Candle_315]

OhpleaseOhpleaseOhplease 🤞🤞

[u/CaptainNoBoat → u/RobsSister]

I'd love to see it, but caution anyone getting their hopes up.

Given that this would be Trump’s first criminal conviction — and the charges are nonviolent in nature — the former president would be unlikely to receive much, if any, jail time. But it is possible. An analysis of prior cases where falsifying business records was charged as a felony found that approximately 1 in 10 cases resulted in prison time.

Even if sentenced to prison, an appeal gives him much better odds of avoiding incarceration temporarily.

[u/beekersavant → u/CaptainNoBoat]

Especially due to the nature of the scheme, it doesn’t seem like jail time is likely. The scheme was to win the election and they paid more taxes and money to enact it. Almost no one would go to jail for the records that were not actual theft. I would love for prison time, but your average Joe would not go to prison for this.

However, your average Joe would be in jail for contempt by now. Having surrogates attend the case and live tweet is just the dumbest thing. Honestly, I think the judge is about to drop the hammer on the surrogates and possibly Trumps lawyers.

[u/HFentonMudd → u/beekersavant]

Cohen went to jail and he was a soldier, not the boss.

[u/Chaotic-Catastrophe → u/HFentonMudd]

Cohen also had five counts of tax evasion on his sheet that Trump doesn't.

[u/willdesignforfood → u/CaptainNoBoat]

You raise a good point. But his behavior during this trial definitely wouldn’t help his cause to be one of the 9/10.

[u/Mendozena → u/willdesignforfood]

His behavior hasn’t done shit to him in the past either. He’s never going to jail.

Only thing that can stop him is the voters.

[u/NoveltyAccountHater → u/Mendozena]

Only thing that can stop him is the voters.

He definitely could receive real prison time for his three other cases. Unfortunately, Cannon let the defense grind his Florida confidential documents case to a halt, the federal case in DC is being delayed by the Supreme Court judging if presidents are immune from prosecution (could a president be prosecuted for ordering Seal Team 6 to assassinate a rival without being removed from office through impeachment), and the Georgia case is a sprawling RICO trial that even if it started today would be unlikely to finish before election day.

[u/Nazi_Punks_Fuck__Off → u/NoveltyAccountHater]

Jeez, add those reasons to the pile he’s made the through the years. Mueller, his New York businesses under investigation, having to put up 700 million… it all just melts away for this guy. I don’t know why you’d believe these things will stick when everything else just falls off this guy.

[u/Cod-Medium → u/Just_Candle_315]

Nah it’s a white collar business crime / fraud for a first offender there’s no way he’s going to jail. On the other hand it makes the penalty phase of any conviction for the RICO case in Georgia a lot more serious

Edit - thanks for the reddit cares - nothing says “I’m a chicken shit trumper who can’t participate in a the dialogue outside /r/conservative safe space” than abusing reporting in this manner. It’s like a “special upvote”. Thanks!!!

[u/unhappy_puppy → u/Cod-Medium]

The only reason i have any hope of consequences for this one is that another first-time offender went to jail for the same crime. it's only a little bit of hope . . .

[u/jaylotw → u/Cod-Medium]

I had a Trumper report me for "abuse," as well, when I asked him to quote what part of the gag order prevented Trump from taking the stand.

It's so much fun seeing such wimps pretend to be the tough guys.

[u/espresso_martini__ → u/Cod-Medium]

Lol the "special upvote". I also got one after a Trump comment. These fragile snowflakes really have no other way to express themselves. I'm disappointed I only got the one special upvote so far.

[u/iskyoork → u/espresso_martini__]

It's funny how reverse things are going for them as they were all calling us snowflakes just a few years ago, now they have to hide in /r/Conservative cutting down any speech that doesn't agree with their cult.

[u/KingL3fty → u/Just_Candle_315]

I wish, but have no hope of this.

[u/[deleted] → u/torode]

If Trump backs out, there should be a backup plan to turn the debate into a town hall and just have two empty chairs with the moderator with questions submitted by the public. Every time a question is for Trump, the default response is he couldn't attend.

[u/broad5ide → u/torode]

Can you just imagine Biden responding to Trump by saying "what my opponent, the convicted felon, just said...." Brutal

[u/JoostvanderLeij]

Trump Immediately Accepts, But Then Comes Up With Crazy Demands Why The Debates Won't Happen Anyway.

[u/Yousoggyyojimbo → u/JoostvanderLeij]

The terms he was offered was no crowd and he's already demanding a crowd after accepting so that's definitely how this is going to go.

[u/chipmunksocute → u/Yousoggyyojimbo]

Yeah the "no crowd" and "mics off when other person is speaking" Id imagine are red lines for Biden's team.  The whole point of this is them trying to keep Trump from making it a spectacle.  Theres nothing Trump would love more than to yell over Biden while Maga fucks in a crowd egg him on and boo Biden, and I cant see Biden agreeing to that at all. I dont think either of these debates are going to happen.  Trump wants a crowd and a chance to yell over Biden, Biden and co want the opposite.  Trump in a quiet room yelling without any crowd feedback will make him look like an ass.

[u/Yousoggyyojimbo → u/chipmunksocute]

Yeah I just don't see him actually going through with this.

He wouldn't be able to contain himself and the video of him standing there shouting to be heard because his microphone was off would just look crazy.

If they actually went through with it I would bet he would get up and physically walk over to Joe Biden to shout into his microphone.

[u/MudLOA → u/Yousoggyyojimbo]

Zoom call it is then.

[u/not_that_planet → u/Yousoggyyojimbo]

Yep. Don't ever assume that right wingers are going to debate in good faith. This is all about the appearance of strength to them and Diaper Don can't win on the debate stage. His plan is already to make a bunch of power moves and demand concessions before simply not showing up.

[u/badamant → u/JoostvanderLeij]

There needs to be only one mic and strict timing rules…. Of course pumpkin spice shitler will refuse.

[u/KarateKid1984]

The top post on the conservative sub is “the Biden campaign officially turns down debate commission”.

Man, they’ll reframe anything to make it look better for them.

[u/[deleted] → u/KarateKid1984]

I mean the RNC left the commission, didn't they? Even then, the media is pretty biased towards Trump because they want a spectacle instead of a debate.

[u/linknewtab → u/[deleted]]

Just look at Nate Silver's reaction: https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1790738966980804928

The last time they allowed Trump to debate with Covid and almost kill Biden and now Biden not working with them is somehow sacrilege.

[u/mr_potatoface → u/linknewtab]

Anyone who watched more than 5 minutes of the 2016 or 2020 debates and compares it to prior election debates should understand the validity to Biden's letter. It went from a boring, dry, mostly factual albeit biased exchange of information to something you'd expect out of a reality series. Jerry Springer had better control over his guests than the moderators did of Trump.

[u/Evadrepus → u/linknewtab]

He fails to point out that the RNC already backed out of the debate commission in April.

You expect Biden to debate a chair, like a delirious actor?

[u/gavran5 → u/linknewtab]

He's getting bodied in the comments, and rightly so.

[u/HarrumphingDuck → u/linknewtab]

My initial reaction was the same as Silver's, but after reading the letter, I completely reversed my stance. Those are all very good points.

[u/Killfile → u/linknewtab]

If anything, Biden should be dragging the Committee. It's been a shit-show for years.

1. You allowed a candidate to attempt to assassinate another candidate with an improvised biological weapon.
2. You completely failed to enforce the rules of the debate in terms of talk-clocks
3. You have refused to adjust the debate schedule to account for changes in how Americans vote.

[u/linknewtab → u/Killfile]

Also people act like this is some old, sacred institution. The committee was formed in the late 80s.

[u/Critical_Half_3712]

So, which emotional support senator will debate for him?

[u/discussatron → u/Critical_Half_3712]

They’ll be lined up to lick his asshole during ad breaks.

[u/cmnrdt]

r/conservative having a rare moment of sanity in voicing their support for this approach. Seems like everyone over there agrees that Trump's tendency to interrupt and shout while Biden remains composed and respectful is a bad thing to have shown on camera. Of course, they wouldn't be r/conservative if they didn't also come up with a dozen reasons why this is all good for Trump and bad for Biden. They think it'll be like an MMA match with Trump running laps around Biden as opposed to Biden coming off like an intelligent statesman while Trump delivers a word salad interspersed with the words "border" "Ismeal" and "(unintelligible)".

[u/JohnStamosAsABear → u/cmnrdt]

Interesting to see if Biden forces Trump to talk policy. 

All Trump has been doing for the past 3 years is bitching about everything. 

I’m curious how wild and vague his campaign promises will be.

[u/cmnrdt → u/JohnStamosAsABear]

His MAGA base doesn't care about policy, and the rest of his more reluctant supporters would argue that anything would be better than a second term of Biden/Harris. How badly the debates impact Trump's popularity would be purely dependent on how far conservatives need to tie themselves into knots to explain away his inevitably lackluster performance.

[u/yaworsky → u/cmnrdt]

Yeah the NYT article on 12 Trump voters demonstrated they don't know shit about policy. It was almost entirely a focus group about feelings.

Of the 12 voters, 1 said she would be less likely to vote for him if he was convicted of a felony.

When asked to pick words to describe Joe Biden

Incompetent x3, weak, idiot, wishy-washy, confused, traitor, lost, and tired.

It's fucking infuriating. Breaking down word by word:

Incompetent:

• Major Legislation passed under Trump: 1 major tax cut;

• Biden has helped pass American Rescue Plan, bipartisan infrastructure bill, a gun safety bill, CHIPS act, Inflation reduction act.

Weak:

• Trump says russia can do whatever they want with countries...

• Biden has been strong on leadership against Russia and helped galvanize Europe. I would also say they are pretty similar on immigration despite how people perceive them. Biden basically only stopped the most egregious policies.

Idiot:

• For this I feel like there just isn't any evidence Biden is an idiot. Meanwhile trump literally pays thousands of dollars for being unable to keep his mouth shut.

Wishy-Washy:

• Again, Biden has had pretty damn similar beliefs and values for like 30 years. Trump flips back and forth on policies constantly.

Confused:

• I'd argue they both sometimes seem confused. Trump constantly mis-names people and Biden sometimes gets stuff wrong.

Traitor and lost I'm skipping.

But finally tired.

• Trump is falling asleep in courtrooms... Biden gave numerous long speeches and has been out stumping. But they are both fucking old.

Overall I feel like I just can't read articles like this anymore because of just how fucking un-informed and feelings-based people are this election.

[u/Geofrancis → u/cmnrdt]

its wild over there, they are worried that biden will be given amphetamine or snort cocane before the debate and it will make trump look bad.

[u/ZombiePiggy24 → u/Geofrancis]

“and when Trump objects to these demands, Biden will call off the debate and say "see! my opponent doesn't want to debate me"!”

They’re already prepared to blame Biden when Trump tries to change the terms he agreed to

[u/PleaseBmoreCharming → u/Geofrancis]

Projection as always. Trump is the one with a supposed amphetamine problem.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-white-house-drugs-speed-xanax-1234979503/

[u/IJustLoggedInToSay- → u/cmnrdt]

Well these are the same people who watch a debate with a science educator and a creationist and think the creationist won because they were louder, said more words, and called the educator names.

[u/borg286]

Accepting immediately indicates that Trump wants to change the narrative away from his trials. This means that the trials have been effective. He has been delaying as many as possible, not only in hopes he'll forgive himself once in office, but that it has been damaging to his image just being at trial. He says he'd be proud to be thrown into jail for a gag order, but the fact that when a judge showed actual teeth Trump backed down, means that he is afraid of losing the spotlight.

[u/BriefausdemGeist → u/borg286]

Backed down, but also allegedly skirting the order by having meat puppets make his complaints for him - which is a violation of the gag order anyways

[u/Perfect_Opposite2113]

“Will you shut up man?”

[u/OtherBluesBrother]

CNN should remind people that Trump backed out of a debate in 2020 and it's likely he'll find some excuse to do so again.

[u/PorscheUberAlles]

He’ll find an excuse to back out; no way Trump’s handlers let him debate

[u/PorscheUberAlles → u/PorscheUberAlles]

lol I got a Reddit cares for this. Guess I struck a nerve

[u/skatchawan → u/PorscheUberAlles]

aaah this is the type of comment prompting such things. I got one too, but not sure which comment triggered it.

[u/ifhysm]

Wasn’t the last debate the one where Trump showed up late to avoid testing for Covid because he knew he was already positive? And then like two days later he had to be airlifted to the hospital? And then he staged videos with stacks of blank paper while looking like a ghost to convince his supporters that he was still working? It’s going to be really hard to top that

[u/ragnarocknroll]

“I hear Don has Wednesdays free.”

I don’t like half the man’s policies, but damn that policy of mocking Trump at every chance is one I can agree with.

[u/Tribalbob → u/ragnarocknroll]

It's about fucking time. I'm about as left-wing as you can get but holy shit, the Dems needed to start taking off the gloves to deal with the GOP and sling some shit of their own.

[u/Tomtucker93]

Put diaper don in a soundproof box and only let him talk when it's his turn, he can sit in his own stench and we won't have to hear him chat shit, win win. We can also put Biden in one if it makes people feel better.

[u/watermelonspanker → u/Tomtucker93]

Don't forget to drill air hole. Or do forget.

[u/rollingstone]

From Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramírez:

President Joe Biden threw down the gauntlet on Wednesday, directly challenging former President Donald Trump – his expected 2024 rival — to not one, but two debates. The president also took a jab at Trump’s scheduling conflicts given his ongoing criminal hush money trial in New York, which does not convene on Wednesdays.

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/biden-challenges-trump-debates-1235021164/

[u/DoctorZacharySmith]

I am not sure a sitting president should debate a rapist felon.

[u/CockCozies]

"Immediately accepts [while planning his later excuse for not debating]"

FIFY

[u/eyebrowshampoo]

Man I really want this debate to happen. Trump has pretty obviously gone downhill cognitively. The only people he addresses are people who like him and who enjoy his antics. He hasn't actually had to publicly speak with anyone who disagrees with him in years, and I predict will become extra unhinged and flustered. His decline will be front and center on display for any independents or fence sitting Republicans who haven't seen footage from any of his rallies this year. 

[u/PleaseBmoreCharming → u/eyebrowshampoo]

I'm sure this is the Biden campaign's reason for proposing the public debate in the first place.

[u/AlacarLeoricar]

Bait.

He's trying to make the orange man confess to his crimes.

...Let them fight.

[u/GaiusMaximusCrake]

I think its a bad move by Biden, but I'm encouraged by Biden's confidence at the same time.

The problem for Biden is that expectations for Trump are so below-ground low that Trump is sure to exceed those expectations if he can even string together complete sentences. Biden will say intelligent, thoughtful things, but in today's media environment form matters much more than substance. The NYT will crow endlessly about how "Biden sounds old" and "Trump sounds vigorous" and that is all that will be heard.

[u/asharwood101]

This is lame. Trump doesn’t actually debate he just flings insults. We’ve seen it. Trump is an idiot.

[u/flugenblar]

Trump is not 100% honest; Biden needs to make sure there are controls in place, like silencing microphones when its the other person's turn to speak. Just because Trump agrees to a debate doesn't mean he intends to honor protocols that are voluntary.

[u/NeoPstat → u/flugenblar]

Trump is not 1% honest;

FTFY

[u/El_Morro]

*Trump SAID he'll accept.

Very important distinction when we're dealing with Trump.

[u/samwstew]

He will try to change the terms or bank out. Guaranteed.

[u/Conehead1]

I hope this means that if/when Trump backs out, Biden gets the air time uninterrupted.

[u/davoste]

Presidential debate format I'd like to see:

1. Each candidate/podium exists in an enclosed sound-proof booth. The light and sound automatically turns OFF once their allotted time expires, or if they speak out of turn.

2. Using an in-house polling device/app, the audience determines how well each candidate answered the moderator's questions. At the end of the debate, the candidate with the highest percentage of answered questions is determined to be the debate winner.

[u/Ill-Energy-7914]

He’s accepting to save face, but he won’t follow through with it.

[u/Legionheir]

I’ll bet my mortgage trump backs out and blames biden.

[u/imJGott]

There needs to be a fact checker being done live during the debate.

[u/hippiesareright42069]

DJT is an embecile. He doesn't understand debate. He just wants an audience to rant to.

[u/thathairinyourmouth]

Biden: “Excellent! Can you send your court schedule to my admin? It’s hard to keep up on all that.”

[u/RedfromTexas]

Ten bucks says he finds an excuse and doesn’t show.

[u/Gator1508]

He will 💯 find excuses to bail 

[u/Time_Composer_113]

They need to do it so that their microphones are muted when they aren't talking somehow so that they can't be heard unless it is their turn. Maybe just stick trump in a soundproof room. The last one was a damn mess because trump couldn't shut his fuggin mouth.

[u/CrabbyPatties42]

Trump nowadays goes on nonsense dementia tangents and claims Hannibal Lecter is wonderful and great, and that he is also deceased.  So I don’t think the debates are going to go so well for him.

"because they're sending people in their jails into the United States from Africa from Asia from all over the world, they're emptying out their jails into the United States, they're emptying out their mental institutions into the United States, our beautiful country, and now the prison populations all over the world are down, they don't want to report that, the mental institution population is down, because they're taking people people from insane asylums and from mental institution, you know what the difference is right, an insane asylum is a mental institution on steroids, Silence of the Lambs. Has anyone ever seen The Silence of the Lambs? The late, great Hannibal Lecter is a wonderful man. He often times would have a friend for dinner. Remember the last scene? "Excuse me. I'm about to have a friend for dinner," as this poor doctor walked by. "I'm about to have a friend for dinner." But Hannibal Lecter. Congrats. The late, great Hannibal Lect...we have people that are being released into our country that we don't want in our country, and they're coming in totally unchecked, totally unvetted, and we can't let this happen, they're destroying our country, and we're sitting back, and we better damn well win this election”

https://www.mediaite.com/news/huh-trump-praises-silence-of-the-lambs-hannibal-lecter-as-a-wonderful-man-in-all-time-bonkers-rally-rant/

[u/KingStreetCleaner]

Dude trump is going to look so stupid and unhinged without a TV Audience to cheer for him for his stupid shit

[u/RasCorr]

There needs to be a live fact check ticker over Trump's head

[u/slaeryx]

Trump will back out. He can’t form coherent sentences, let along keep to a subject important to other people.