Everyone knows that putting President Joe Biden next to Donald Trump on a stage is a bad idea. You know it, Biden's team knows it, and everyone in America knows it except maybe Joe Scarborough, who believes Biden is sharp as a tack.
The reasons are pretty obvious. Biden's cognitive capacity is less than stellar. While we haven't had confirmation, there have been so many examples of Biden's mental decline that you've likely forgotten some of them. One of my closest friends who works as a firefighter and medical first responder noticed that Biden avoids his own shadow on occasion, a sign of dementia.
It was the original plan to not have Biden take part in any debate, but Biden does what he does and ran his mouth about taking on Trump any time, any place. Even then, I still didn't think a debate was going to happen. They'd wave it off with some excuse that the POTUS is too busy being magnificent in ways you peasants couldn't possibly comprehend.
As I wrote then, the point wasn't necessarily to protect Biden, it was to protect various narratives, especially the January 6 narrative that Democrats have used to convince people that Trump truly is a danger to America. Putting Trump in front of a camera where he can destroy that narrative directly in front of the DNC's "top dog" would destroy something Democrats have put a lot of time, effort, and taxpayer money into.
Ultimately, the fear isn't Trump, it's what you'll think of Trump. In other words, the fear revolves more around you, the American people, and what you'll see and witness.
This is why the Democrats, now apparently up against a wall thanks to Biden, are now agreeing to a debate but with a ton of handicaps on the course. As Sister Toldjah noted in her article on Wednesday, some of these stipulations include not having an audience present:
The letter by the Biden campaign lays out for the first time the president’s terms for giving Mr. Trump what he has openly clamored for: a televised confrontation with a successor Mr. Trump has portrayed, and hopes to reveal, as too feeble to hold the job. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump quickly agreed to the two dates proposed by the Biden campaign, although it was unclear whether he would agree to Mr. Biden’s other terms.
Mr. Biden and his top aides want the debates to start much sooner than the dates proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates, so voters can see the two candidates side by side well before early voting begins in September. They want the debate to occur inside a TV studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit elapses. And they want it to be just the two candidates and the moderator — without the raucous in-person audiences that Mr. Trump feeds on and without the participation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or other independent or third-party candidates.
Some of these stipulations are obvious. Having a third person on the stage would easily confuse Biden and they don't want him fighting off two people, much less one. Microphone control would stop Trump from going too into detail during his rants while it would allow Biden to give little mini-speeches he could read off of cards.
But it's the no audience part that should truly get your attention.
Audiences love to react, even when they're not supposed to. Moreover, audience reaction actually will influence thoughts and opinions, especially if the people watching are low-info voters.
What the Biden team likely envisions is Biden given his pre-written mini-speeches, hoping he doesn't deviate too much from the script. The issue is that Biden's mental health isn't good and he's likely to fumble and bumble his way through the debates while Trump is clearly not having any mental issues at all. Biden won't be able to counter much of what Trump does or says, as going off-script would likely be disastrous.
If an audience was watching, they'd have a hard time finding applause lines for Biden, but not for Trump. The audience's reaction to Trump, especially on issues like the economy and border security — two top issues on voter's minds today — will make him look very, very good. There's also the danger that Biden may even elicit boos from the crowd or worse, dead silence.
The audience would have to go because ultimately the audience is you and the Democrats know how much the people aren't exactly favoring Biden at the moment. By cutting out the audience, the Democrats are trying to cut YOU out of the picture.
I'm still not convinced a debate will happen, but if it does, expect this to be heavily biased and rigged to assist Biden.