Ever since the first presidential debate of 2024, the question in the minds of everyone who watches politics is "How much longer does Joe Biden have?" Legions are now calling for him to surrender his candidacy, if not to resign outright. With every passing day, he grows more befuddled. The tensions of supposedly being president - we are forced to wonder how much of the job he is actually doing - along with the campaign, in which he is playing an ineffective defense against the rising Tide of Trump, seems to be aggravating his mental decline.
Now, Donald Trump is looking to stomp on the gas by challenging the president to a new debate, with no moderators or rules.
Former President Trump on Thursday challenged President Biden to another debate, this time with no moderators.
In a Truth Social post, Trump requested a "no holds barred" and "all on" discussion with Biden about the future of the country.
"Let Joe explain why he wants Open Borders, with millions of people, and many violent criminals from parts unknown, pouring into our once great Nation, or why he wants Men Playing in Women’s Sports, or demand ALL ELECTRIC VEHICLES within five years, or why he allowed INFLATION TO RUN RAMPANT, destroying the people of our Country, and so much more. It would also, under great pressure, prove his 'competence,' or lack thereof. Likewise it would be yet another test for me. What a great evening it would be, just the two of us, one on one, in a good, old fashioned Debate, the way they used to be. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE!!!"
This is a typically Trumpian challenge, and while the Biden people will never allow this to happen, Trump has everything to gain by this and nothing to lose.
Donald Trump, you may note, is basically proposing a free-for-all. No moderators, no off-limits topics, no sacred cows, no rules, no boundaries, no nothing, no kidding. It would be interesting to see a return to the style of the Lincoln-Douglas debates - a formal debate on a chosen topic, with no questions from moderators but just the two candidates with assigned speaking times and set times for rebuttals. But that doesn't seem to be what former President Trump is proposing.
Such a debate format seems aimed at two primary goals for the Trump campaign: To force President Biden to act on his own, without support, without softballing by biased moderators, and without any limits to the length of replies. That would be a disaster for the president, as he is increasingly unable to read from his giant teleprompter without embarrassing screwups.
It's the second Trump goal that would make this fun to watch: This debate format seems purposely designed to make Joe Biden lose his temper and descend into a ranting, incoherent wreck, a state that he has approached more than once already. Joe Biden has always been known for being prickly and short-tempered; his mental deterioration, as is often the case, seems to be making him more prone to fits of anger. And on a debate stage, with Trump doing what Trump does best - getting under Biden's skin, needling him, prodding him with sharp accusations over not only his record as president but his family's financial dealings?
I can't think of anything more likely to set Biden off.
This won't happen, of course. Whoever is pulling Joe Biden's strings, and that is very likely (let's say this quietly) Jill Biden, would never let befuddled old Joe anywhere near such an event. But watch for Trump to keep needling him over it, and to use the refusal as another data point for Biden's manifestly obvious unfitness to serve. This is, once again, Trump being Trump - and nobody does that better than the man himself.