r/politics • u/robot_pirate • 4d ago

Trump Should Never Have Had This Platform Paywall

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/06/debate-trump-platform-january-6/678818/
4.0k Upvotes

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184

u/nohurrie32 4d ago

Exactly….once the 34 felony convictions were handed down, Biden should have issued a statement that he will not be debating a felon. To allow a convicted felon on the stage with the president elevates the felon for no reason.

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u/ChucksnTaylor 4d ago

Easy to say in retrospect.

Just as easy to say “what a no brainer, debate the guy and just keep reiterating that he’s a convicted felon with another 60 felony counts pending”

But Biden couldn’t handle that.

29

u/Old-Rhubarb-97 4d ago

The debate format did Biden no favours. Allowing Trump to go wildly off topic with his constant lies had Joe flailing to address the lies and the actual topic at the same time.

It is on the democrats for not being prepared for that, but also on CNN for the godawful moderation.

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u/Levitz 4d ago

The debate format did Biden no favours.

WWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwhat?

Can you even imagine what would have happened without the format explicitly setting times and muting microphones? Which was absolutely because of Trump?

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u/wjta 4d ago

Biden’s team set the debate rules to try to control the narrative. They failed to do so.

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u/Old-Rhubarb-97 4d ago

I don't think that is true, both candidates had to agree to the rules.

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u/KillahHills10304 4d ago edited 3d ago

Bidens camp was pushing harder for this. A week of preparation at Camp David with all the resources being executive of the wealthiest nation in human history can provide.

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u/wjta 4d ago

Biden's team pushed for the mic muting, no crowd, etc. They both wanted no RFK Jr. Yes they had to agree to the rules. However that just recognizes that Trump compromised in order to make the debate happen because he knew the cognitive disparity would be on full display.

The rules just seemed to backfire and make Trump look composed and at least capable of forming an argument. Biden was hard to understand even with an empty studio and no interruptions.

This is also what they expected to happen. This is why this was the earliest debate ever. These guys aren't even officially nominated to run for office.

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u/ChucksnTaylor 4d ago

So you think Bidens problem last night was being disallowed from cutting into Trump to correct him on the fly?

Uh… ok 🤨

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u/GNOSTRICH92 4d ago

People are acting like not allowing interruptions is some kind of Trump scheme and not the thing everyone wanted when Trump constantly interrupted last time. Do they think a less structured, more combative debate benefits the famously argumentative and aggressive Joe Biden over the equally infamous quiet and low-energy Trump?

I can see it now, and for the record, it would be hilarious. Joe constantly trying to say "Trump you're lying man" while Trump goes "Dementia Joe says what?." Biden stammers and Trump shouts "old" repeatedly until Biden delivers a banger response like "um, he-hey, listen Jack, you're uh, uh, uuuuuh, you're older-I mean, you're old too."

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u/Temporary_Inner 4d ago

Trump constantly interrupted last time hurt him badly in the election. It made him seem like a loon, the muted mics helped him. 

It was a gift from the Biden camp

9

u/Old-Rhubarb-97 4d ago

I did not say that at all.

His problem was trying to address Trump's lies and getting riled up.

CNN airing what Trump said at all feels like the death of democracy.

5

u/ChucksnTaylor 4d ago

Oh come on… “CNN airing the answers of the candidate I don’t like is the death of democracy”. It’s a debate, that’s how it works, both sides get to speak. Ideally lies by one party are called out by the other party because again, that’s how debates work and again, Biden wasn’t up to the task.

I get it, people are unhappy about how last night went and are looking to point fingers but this one isn’t on CNN, sorry.

5

u/Old-Rhubarb-97 4d ago edited 4d ago

Bullshit it is. Are you going to pretend most of what Trump said wasn't just insane lies?

Hold the media to a higher standard.

1

u/ChucksnTaylor 4d ago

Huh? I genuinely don’t understand what you’re getting at. A debate was hosted last night and CNN effectively hosted that debate. Anything else is just wishful thinking.

I’m not thrilled Trump got to air his lies but it’s joe bidens job to counter those lies, not CNN.

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u/whitewater-goddess 3d ago

No, what’s the point of a moderator if not to call out the lies? If their only job were to ask questions, they would be called a questioner. It was absolutely their responsibility to counter the lies.

0

u/Bubbly-Wait-225 4d ago

This subreddit wants Russia style elections if you haven’t noticed yet. Anything short of a totalitarian regime where the dem candidate is already chosen and shoe horned in is the “DEATH OF DEMOCRACY”

1

u/theravenousR 3d ago

I'm so happy I left the Dems after 2016. That was the year I voted Hillary in the general, my last Dem vote, and I still regret it. These people want the very thing they accuse Trump of: the end of democracy, as long as it's their team ending it. Trump, meanwhile, wants the prestige and the salutes and the "Hail to the Chief" playing and portraits of himself and statues if he could get them. He doesn't care enough about democracy to end it, let alone know how. His VP will do the work, he'll take the credit, and then it'll be on to the next Rep that, according to Reddit, will be "for real a fascist this time, so much worse than Trump, literally Hitler." Such smug, self-serving hypocrites with zero self-awareness.

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u/Sad_Bolt 4d ago

Cancelling the debate would’ve been used against him too. The problem was whoever helped him prep was an idiot should be fired because Biden wasn’t ready. Everyone and their mom knew Trump was going to come out the gate trying to confuse him and get him railed up (which he did) and somehow the Biden camp just assumed Trump wasn’t.

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u/Bytewave 4d ago

It was widely reported that Biden was heavily prepped for this and had been for weeks. I don't think it's a lack of preparation or bad management. It's just that there is a limit of what you can ask or expect of people past a certain age. There's sometimes confusion, slower reactions and some loss of self-confidence at that point, despite good health.

Also, Trump must be hard to prep against because he is so willing to lie and make stuff up on the spot that it broadens the parameters a lot. You have to waste time considering all sorts of wild hypotheticals well outside the bounds of reality. That can't be easy.

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u/Sufficient_Morning35 4d ago

Biden wrestled a pig. Seems like he should have aoided wrestling a pig.

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u/wjta 4d ago

Yeah it’s everyone’s fault but the guy who should have kept his campaign managers word and not run for a second term. Y’all made your bed, gotta sleep in it now.

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u/Redditthedog 4d ago

And Trump standing next to an empty podium or if it was cancelled cause Biden didn't come and he went onn Fox or somewhere else debated RFK would be better?

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u/chosey 3d ago

What a ridiculous statement when Trump is a former President. You act like he’s just some random felon off the street.