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Next Trump-Biden debates now uncertain as rival camps argue

52 Comments
By ZEKE MILLER and WILL WEISSERT

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52 Comments

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Hold it virtually.

Isolate Trump. Keep Super spreader 1 away from others. Trump should not be allowed to put even more people at risk. I want his swamp drained, but do not want to see Trump spread the virus any farther.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

The Biden side is trying to use the virus as an excuse to hold a real face to face debate in which he can't use a teleprompter. They know he probably cannot last through a second debate with Trump.

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

OK, no problem. No debate. Maybe Biden can do a virtual townhall by himself. It'll be a free 90-minute infomercial for him.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Trump won't agree to any conditions where he can't scream and bully Biden.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Hold the debate as planned and empty chair any candidate that doesn't turn up.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Hold the debate as planned and empty chair any candidate that doesn't turn up.

Agree. But we could put something more suitable on the Trump chair, like a crying baby in a wig.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Hold it virtually.

Isolate Trump. Keep Super spreader 1 away from others. Trump should not be allowed to put even more people at risk. I want his swamp drained, but do not want to see Trump spread the virus any farther.

This is just stupid! You can keep these two far apart with masks and a screen, why on earth would the President want to debate someone anyone virtually, how do we know that Biden won't have someone with cue cards or a teleprompter of even Donna Brazille feeding him the answers? We don't and this is bad all away around, but I think the President should agree to a virtual debate ONLY if both sides send people to monitor the other candidate during these virtual debate. Biden's people behind Trump and Trump's people behind Biden, then sure, have the debate, make it transparent.

-10 ( +3 / -13 )

Trump is riddled with Covid and spreading - there is no way he should be outside at all. It's not safe and it sends the wrong message. How can we expect infected people to self-isolate if the president won't.

But Trump is in big trouble. The last debate cost him bigly in the polls, but he doesn't have many chances to get the coverage he needs to claw this back. At this stage he is facing a landslide and if he can claw that back to a small loss, he has the chance to try to steal the election in the courts.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

how do we know that Biden won't have someone with cue cards or a teleprompter of even Donna Brazille feeding him the answers?

Uh, I think this can be easily controlled.

You can keep these two far apart with masks and a screen,

You think Trump is going to agree to a mask? You don't either.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Trump is such a joke. He has to break the rules and, like Pence, interrupt and go on and on at his own whim. He knows he has to follow the rules, if held virtually because the moderator can cut off his mike, and poor Donald pouts!!

Donald has to play by his own rules...breaking them, too, whenever he wants. What a child. What a loser. What a coward.

But the debate doesn't really matter. Seeya the worst president ever, the Biden landslide is coming.

I'm enjoying this, now, as the size of the landslide and how it carries America for the future is looking great.

The terrible Republican party will lose even more power as America will see just how bad their lies have been, and they emanate not only from Trump, he's only a (huge problematic) symptom of the conservatives, not the cause.

Republicans just latched on and used him because they're a bunch of dishonest weasels who lack integrity. As soon as Trump's gone, they'll all say they disagreed with his demeanor, words, policy, and love for Putin.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

If trump hadn’t been such a failure by letting himself get the virus, the debates wouldn’t be a problem.

Biden should show up and do the debate without trump. He gets 90 minute to talk about how pathetic trump has been. Which was 90 minutes more than he got with the debate with the loser last time.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

The "town hall" format debates are a joke.

The people asking questions are NOT randomly chosen, they are carefully screened and handed questions to ask. There are numerous reports of political partisans and campaign workers taking part pretending to be "undecided" voters. There is virtually no interaction between the candidates.

How about we put Pence in to sub for Trump if Biden is worried about Covid? I'd pay money to see that. After the surgical precision that Pence showed in his dissection of Sen. Harris, it would be a great event!

At least hold the final face to face debate as scheduled. And keep the moderator on the sidelines! Let the two men go at it unscripted, the way debates are meant to be. This format of "2 minutes", "30 second rebuttal", is nothing.

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

The right supports trump skipping the debates because they know he’ll get eviscerated by the public in a town hall.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Uh, I think this can be easily controlled.

Even you don’t believe that, come on man...

You think Trump is going to agree to a mask? You don't either

Didn’t you just say they can control that?

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

I'm sure they'll hold it virtually....

And Trump will invite all his family, friends, and supporters to his location, so he can infect all the ones that didn't catch it from his Rose Garden super-spreader event last time...

Just call his area the Jim Jones auditorium...

7 ( +10 / -3 )

OK, no problem. No debate. Maybe Biden can do a virtual townhall by himself.

Please. We don't want to be bored to death. We want a debate. Face to face.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

What part of quarantine does the Trump camp not understand? He shouldn't even be outside, let alone on stage. Nobody should be within a mile of that virus.

He is running scared, knowing that nobody in their right mind will want to go through with a face-to-face meeting, and so he objects to a virtual meeting. He's doing everything to avoid a debate. Scared he'll screw up again. He knows he's doing baldly in the polls, he knows he's heading for a 3 November massacre, he knows he's endangered lives with the Rose Garden massacre, he knows he's heading for jail next year and he knows he's got one foot in the grave. Wheeze, baby, wheeze.

They showed him talking outside yesterday. The spit that projected out of his mouth was disgusting. That lawn needs to be fumigated.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

If it's good enough for Obama, then it's good enough for the man-child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLkJ690LOOI

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Well, maybe they won't have a second debate because in Trump's weird mind, it already happened and he won:

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bonkers-interview-trump-says-beat-195113982.html

Yeah, it's true, according to Trump, he beat Biden in the second debate, even though it hasn't happened yet. Wow! Something is really wrong with Trump.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

A virtual debate for a virtual president seems about appropriate, but Trump is looking to reinfect himself if he resumes his rallies attended by his credulous followers, Covid and the ghost of Jim Jones.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Come on, man, here's the deal: Biden's handlers are going to chicken out of a 2nd face to face debate using the coronavirus as an excuse. So pathetic.

Biden should show up and do the debate without trump

Um, you need two people to have a debate. I really hope Biden's handlers don't chicken out here. By the way, how come they refused to agree to a check for earpieces?

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

The whipsaw day began with an announcement from the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which said the next debate, a town hall-style affair set for Oct 15 in Miami, would be held virtually. 

...“We agreed to three debates back in the summer,” Biden said while campaigning in Arizona. "First debate: person-to-person. Second debate: town hall format. Third debate: person-to-person. We set the dates. I’m sticking with the dates. I’m showing up. I’ll be there. And if, in fact, he shows up, fine. If he doesn’t, fine.”

The debate commission, which has the unenviable task of finding common ground between the competing campaigns, did not weigh in on any of the new proposals. 

The allegedly "nonpartisan" Commission on Presidential Debates chose to arbitrarily change to a "virtual" format without consulting at least one of the participants. I'm shocked. How much help does the "nonpartisan" Commission on Presidential Debates think that Biden needs? How many foreigners will object to this obvious disregard of the debates previous negotiations? What is the democrats usual words to govern by? Something about if they don't like the rules, then the rules must be ignored.

-12 ( +0 / -12 )

Come on, man, here's the deal: Biden's handlers are going to chicken out of a 2nd face to face debate using the coronavirus as an excuse. So pathetic.

Serrano, how can they have a second debate, when according to Trump, it has already happened? And furthermore, according to him, he won. LOL

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bonkers-interview-trump-says-beat-195113982.html

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Trump said that he hasn't been tested for Covid again, so he could still have the virus - yet he wants to hold a rally on Saturday, putting his own supporters at risk. He cannot be trusted to take part in the debate without infecting others. A virtual debate is necessary.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

I really hope the debate occurs....

Trump is so pumped up on drugs it will make his normal unhinged rants look like the Gettysburg Address...

Just look at all the gems he dropped last night during his Fox interview...

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/08/politics/donald-trump-maria-bartiromo-fox-business/index.html

Just give him a podium and let him self-implode...please, please...

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Trump is clearly unhinged and he needs the debates more than Biden. If Trump doesn’t want to go to the debates, screw him.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

As long as Trump is running around as Captain COVID USA, he is not fit to have a face to face live debate especially when contagious! It's real simple logic. But being the covidiot he is, it's the only thing he'll accept.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Trump can return to 'public engagements' this weekend, White House physician says

-14 ( +1 / -15 )

Trump can return to 'public engagements' this weekend, White House physician says

Why does this equate to “poor sad liberals” in your mind?

More like poor co-workers. White House physician hasn’t been too forthcoming with exact information. Do you know the exact timeline of trumps infection?

No, no you don’t.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

How about we put Pence in to sub for Trump if Biden is worried about Covid? I'd pay money to see that. After the surgical precision that Pence showed in his dissection of Sen. Harris, it would be a great event!

I must have watched a different debate. I thought it was about 50-50. Maybe you are talking about the second debate like the one Trump said he won but didn’t actually take place. Maybe I watched the real debate but forgot to make up my mind who won before I watched it.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

How in all honesty one can describe debate in a sentence, between Trump and Biden is beyond comprehension?   

Both are well past their political sell buy date

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

He's mentally unfit

The president said he will not participate in a virtual debate, planned for October 15, because the commission’s action is all a ruse to protect Joe Biden. Trump also claimed that not only did he beat Biden in the first debate but that he also scored a victory against his opponent in the second debate — the future debate that he had just told Bartiromo he would not attend.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-interview-when-you-catch-covid-you-get-better-immune-1072859/

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Its even more "uncertain" now that the supposedly unbiased moderator (who interned for Biden) was stupid enough to post on Twitter instead of Direct Message.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Not surprised he's bottled it. He ran from 'Nam. He retreated to his bunker, the other month.

This is the guy who said he'd tackle an armed shooter, and he's terrified of a debate.

https://www.bbc.com/news/43202075

6 ( +7 / -1 )

The president said he will not participate in a virtual debate, planned for October 15, because the commission’s action is all a ruse to protect Joe Biden. Trump also claimed that not only did he beat Biden in the first debate but that he also scored a victory against his opponent in the second debate — the future debate that he had just told Bartiromo he would not attend.

He would be unfit if he did participate in a virtual debate.

-10 ( +1 / -11 )

Orange man goes yellow over debates...

Running scared!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

non-partisan doesn’t mean stupid. Cadet Contagion is still shedding virus and this has the added benefit of rule enforcement.

Even Republicans think the decision to boycott is stupid. He’s losing huge and Biden’s lead in battleground states is only widening.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Trump is a horrible negotiator. This is likely a bluff for better terms. I the commission holds their ground (or counter threatens “agree to the terms or VP Biden gets 90 min of uninterrupted time with the American people”) Trump will fold like a cheap table. It’s what he does.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Blacklabel:

Trump can return to 'public engagements' this weekend, White House physician says

Was that the same doctor appointed by Ronny Jackson, the guy who said Trump could live to the age of whatever ridiculously high number he said and that Trump had good genes?

Something stinks when all his doctors are made to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Do his children also have to sign a NDA? He made sure his niece had to sign one.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

It's the virus speaking. China is literally inside his head!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/10/05/and-a-plague-shall-cover-the-land-of-trump/

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

non-partisan doesn’t mean stupid. Cadet Contagion is still shedding virus and this has the added benefit of rule enforcement. 

Even Republicans think the decision to boycott is stupid. He’s losing huge

Yeah, the polls said he was losing last time as well in 2016, anyway the bottom line is this, why would the President engage in a debate and not know what Biden or his camp is doing behind the camera, I agree with the President and if other Republicans don’t like it, who cares, they’re not running and they weren’t elected to be President so they can talk all day long.

and Biden’s lead in battleground states is only widening. 

As was Hillary’s

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Trump is a horrible negotiator.

289 documented accomplishments say otherwise.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Nope, Bass. You are factually wrong. trump lead Hillary a couple times in 2016.

Biden has not trailed once in the last 150 days. Biden Has not trailed in a single high quality poll in the last year.

If you count contracting a deadly virus and giving it others (along with tying his shoes, finding the office and wearing pants) documentable accomplishments, then. MAYBE. Otherwise he’s been a failure of the first order of magnitude.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Nope, Bass. You are factually wrong. trump lead Hillary a couple times in 2016. 

No, I’m factually right.

https://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/14/politics/poll-hillary-clinton-leads-donald-trump/index.html

https://time.com/4546942/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-lead-poll/

Biden has not trailed once in the last 150 days. Biden Has not trailed in a single high quality poll in the last year. 

Neither did Hillary.

If you count contracting a deadly virus and giving it others (along with tying his shoes, finding the office and wearing pants) documentable accomplishments, then. MAYBE. Otherwise he’s been a failure of the first order of magnitude.

Yeah, and if you factor in the sluggish economy over the last 8 years and high unemployment for blacks and the fact that small businesses were going under and the private sector was abysmal and more people sitting at home and on their money, can’t pay their healthcare and tired of raised taxes, more racial unrest, thugs destroying our cities and Dems silent on it, if they think that’s great, vote for Biden.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Yeah, and if you factor in the sluggish economy over the last 8 years 

You know that four of those years were under Trump, right?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

No, you’re incorrect:

No. Because they were her polls

https://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/clinton-trump-swing-state-polls/index.html

Factually correct and now Biden is up the same

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

You know that four of those years were under Trump, right?

Booming economy and lowest black unemployment. Never meet a Democrat who didn't love regulations.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

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