r/politics • u/rollingstone Rolling Stone • May 15 '24

Biden Challenges Trump to Two Debates. Trump Immediately Accepts Soft Paywall

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/biden-challenges-trump-debates-1235021164/
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u/JohnStamosAsABear May 15 '24

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.

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u/cmnrdt May 15 '24

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.

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u/yaworsky Virginia May 15 '24

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.

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u/DecorativeRock May 15 '24

I'm waiting for people to realize that these extremists need to be ostracized. They need to feel social consequences for their actions. I realize there's a likelihood for them to turn to extreme groups for community. I think that ignores how hurt and lonely they feel that their favorite family and friends aren't interacting with them.

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u/yaworsky Virginia May 15 '24

Going to be tough when they are like a 3rd of our population.

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u/DecorativeRock May 15 '24

It's not as tough as you think. It takes a little bravery.