Trump tantrumed and even quit a debate with Joe Biden in 2020, but now he’s even more emotionally volatile
Donald Trump has tried to taunt President Joe Biden by claiming he’s ready for a presidential debate “anytime, anywhere.” The gambit left him little choice but to immediately accept when the Biden campaign offered debate dates in June and September, and terms like not having an audience and allowing real journalists to moderate. But within mere hours it became clear that Trump and the rest of the GOP already regretted the decision.
Pretty quickly, Trump tried to change the terms of the debate, pretending that it will be held on Oct. 2 on Fox News. The Biden campaign swiftly rejected this lie, accusing Trump of “playing games,” and pointing out that Trump frequently talks big but then ends up "pulling out at the last minute, or not showing up at all."
It’s true, of course. Trump has a habit of promising that he’ll do bold things and then backing out, whether it’s his empty promises to testify at his various trials or his false claims he’ll release policy proposals in a week or two. (It’s been over a month of silence, for instance, since he promised he would release an abortion platform in “14 days.”) In 2020, still burned by his terrible first debate with Biden, Trump refused to show up at the second and held an ego-flattering rally instead.
CNN already put out the conditions required for him to be part of the debate. Needs to get 15% in 4 high quality national polls and be on the ballot in enough places to be able to get elected.
15% is a pretty low bar in a winner take all election, and being able to possibly win seems like a reasonable standard if the goal is to have a real debate. In that case I would include the top 5 polling candidates, no matter how low their percentage is. That way there is a chance for sokething to be important other than the talking points of the two major parties.
I don’t think it would be better, but then again the ‘debates’ are pointless any as they are just another place to spout campain slogans, and no actual debate occurs.
It doesn’t matter how high they are polling if they aren’t on the ballot in enough states to win.
Kennedy, Stein, and West COMBINED aren’t on the ballot in enough states to win.
Out of curiosity, why does a news media outlet have the rights or the authority to set conditions? Is it just because they’re hosting the debate? That’s my assumption.
Yes, they “have the authority” because Biden and Trump agreed to have them host the debate. RFK Jr. (big emphasis on Junior) is intentionally excluded because he’s nuts, and that’s before the brainworms.