The exhaustive list of demands released by Joe Biden’s campaign for only two presidential debates tells you just how weak he truly is, but whatever. They’re not unreasonable requirements, and a couple could even work to Donald Trump’s advantage.
Trump has accepted the proposal, but he should also insist some of his own conditions are agreed to by Biden and, just as crucially, whoever moderates.
Biden’s demands are laughably transparent. He wants two debates instead of three because his campaign knows as well as anyone there’s no upside in the rapidly deteriorating president appearing next to the tanned, restless, and ready Trump, who is currently demolishing Biden in surveys of swing-state voters.
He wants no live audience in the room because his campaign knows as well as anyone that Trump remains the unparalleled political performer who thrives in front of a crowd.
Biden’s most controversial demand is that Trump’s mic be muted when it’s Biden’s allotted time to speak. After all, Biden’s campaign knows that directly engaging the former president is high risk, no reward. Biden wants the same done for his own mic when it’s Trump’s time.
Again, whatever. Trump would stand to benefit from the muted mic agreement anyway. His performances in the two debates with Biden in 2020 were a failure by any honest assessment. His attempt to overwhelm his opponent with what amounted to a bunch of incoherent noise backfired. It reinforced voters’ belief that Trump was chaotic and exhausting at a time when everything
