Published May 18, 2024
While President Joe Biden’s debate challenge to presumptive 2024 GOP nominee Donald Trump dominated headlines this week, the behind-the-scenes demands made by the Biden team regarding the debate particulars did not get the amount of scrutiny they deserved. This, in my view, is primarily because the Usual Suspects in the MSM are in full Protect the Precious mode ahead of the first anticipated debate, which will be hosted by CNN and is currently scheduled for June 27.
As we reported, Biden wanted no live audience, mics cut once the person’s time expires and while the other person is talking, only certain (Dem-friendly) news organizations hosting it, and no third-party candidates like RFK Jr. Itching to face Biden, Trump accepted the terms.
Though it was pretty obvious why Biden didn’t want a studio audience present, an unnamed Biden adviser admitted in an interview that the “no crowd” demand was absolutely non-negotiable, because a crowd full of voters were people who Trump could feed off of, and whose reactions in the process could potentially derail Biden’s debate agenda.
They “wanted to take that away,” the adviser conceded:
They resolved in private that if Biden ever faced Trump on a debate stage, there would be no one in the peanut gallery.
That demand became part of the reelection campaign’s agreed-upon proposal to Trump this week for their two general election debates, one in June the other in September. An empty TV studio could, Biden aides feel, deprive their GOP rival of a major advantage when they face off.
“Trump feeds off the crowd, they give him life,” said one Biden adviser who was granted anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy. “We wanted to take that away.”
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SOURCE: www.redstate.com
RELATED: ‘No more games’: Biden rejects additional debates against Trump
Published May 18, 2024
President Joe Biden‘s campaign rejected two additional debates on Friday that former President Donald Trump‘s campaign says it agreed to do.
One was a proposal for a presidential debate hosted by NBC News and Telemundo. The other was for a vice presidential debate hosted by Fox News at Virginia State University, a historically Black college.
“I have accepted a fourth Presidential Debate against Crooked Joe Biden, this time with NBC & Telemundo,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday afternoon. “It is important as Republicans that we WIN with our Great Hispanic Community, who Biden has devastated with Crippling Inflation, High Gas Prices, Crime in our Streets, and Border Chaos. … This is all in addition to our accepting an invitation from Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum of Fox News to host the Vice Presidential Debate at Virginia State University, or another venue, in Virginia, to be named later.”
A spokesperson for NBC News confirmed that the network had offered a debate to both campaigns.
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SOURCE: www.nbsnews.com
RELATED: Biden’s team had a few demands for a Trump debate. A major one: No crowd.
“Trump feeds off the crowd, they give him life. We wanted to take that away.”
Former President Donald Trump stands next to a podium challenging President Joe Biden to a debate at a rally on April 13 in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Published May 17, 2024
When Donald Trump took the stage at a CNN town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, one year ago, a crowd of his supporters roared and jeered all through the event, overwhelming the moderator and effectively taking control of the event.
President Joe Biden’s advisers noticed.
They resolved in private that if Biden ever faced Trump on a debate stage, there would be no one in the peanut gallery.
That demand became part of the reelection campaign’s agreed-upon proposal to Trump this week for their two general election debates, one in June the other in September. An empty TV studio could, Biden aides feel, deprive their GOP rival of a major advantage when they face off.
“Trump feeds off the crowd, they give him life,” said one Biden adviser who was granted anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy. “We wanted to take that away.”
There were several conditions that the Biden team felt were necessary in order to agree to a debate with the former president, among them that at least one forum take place before the start of early voting and that the hosts weren’t from outlets with an ideological bent toward Trump. But in interviews with more than a half dozen officials and advisers who were not authorized to discuss private conversations, the issue of the crowd was consistent. Among their concerns were that the audience noise could disadvantage Biden, who sometimes has trouble hearing amid a din. They also wanted to ensure that there was a clean tempo and cadence to the debate and that it not turn into a shouting match or spectacle. Biden aides have envisioned using the forums to pummel Trump on abortion rights, his response to the Covid pandemic and threats to democracy. For that reason, they were also pleased that the debate would, it appears, involve microphones that can be cut off if a candidate speaks when it’s not their turn.
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SOURCE: www.politico.com
