Back in the 2020 presidential cycle, when Joe Biden was running what his critics called a “basement campaign” to avoid contracting Covid, a lot of Trump fans and Republicans predicted that Biden would find an excuse to not participate in the general-election presidential debate. In fact, Donald Trump contracted Covid, and one of the three scheduled presidential debates was canceled.
Today The Hill finds two Democratic senators suggesting that Biden should not agree to any debates, particularly with Donald Trump, because it would “elevate” the former president.
“I would think twice about it,” said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) about the prospect of Biden debating Trump.
“I’ve been physically present at one of [Trump’s] debates with Hillary Clinton, and I watched him do outrageous things and say outrageous things. It’s just an opportunity for him to display his extremism.” . . .
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden ally, called Trump’s comments about immigrants poisoning the nation “hateful, fascist remarks,” adding that Trump makes such statements “with regular frequency.”
“I was in the room for one of the debates in 2020 — Chris Wallace was the moderator. The former president in no way at all respected the rules or the tradition or decorum” of presidential debates, Coons said. “It was a disaster.”
But the Delaware senator said there’s no reason to dignify Trump as a candidate by debating him, especially considering that Trump has refused to debate any of his Republican primary opponents.
“The fact that former President Trump was unable to conduct himself in just a minimally reasonable way” during the 2020 debate “and that he’s refusing to debate any of his primary opponents this time would make a pretty strong case for not dignifying him as a candidate by sharing a debate stage,” Coons said.Coons emphasized that he was not speaking on behalf of Biden’s campaign.
We keep getting told that 81-year-old Joe Biden is in fine shape and that he can easily perform his duties in one of the most difficult jobs in the world until he is 86. And yet, Biden’s public schedule is particularly light, he rarely does sit-down interviews anymore, he disappears for long stretches, he needs a day or two to recover from foreign trips, and his closest allies are looking for an excuse to cancel any presidential debates.