House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Joe Biden should cancel his three scheduled debates because President Trump would “belittle” the forum and engage in “skullduggery.”
“I don’t think that there should be any debates,” Pelosi said at a news conference at the Capitol on Thursday, Fox News reported.
“I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him, nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States. Now I know that the Biden campaign thinks in a different way about this,” she said.
Pelosi called Trump’s behavior during the 2016 presidential campaign debates with Hillary Clinton “disgraceful,” charging he “stalked” the Democratic nominee.
She said she would not “legitimize a conversation” with Trump.
Her view aligns with several other Democratic leaders who have advised Biden not to get on the debate stage with the president.
“So I think that he’ll probably act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency; he does that every day,” Pelosi said. “But I think it will also belittle what the debates are supposed to be about. And they’re not to be about skullduggery on the part of somebody who has no respect for the office he holds, much less the democratic process.”
Both sides have agreed to three debates starting next month and wrapping up in October.
Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said recently Biden is looking forward to the debates.
There are others who think Biden should not engage in a debate with the president, but for a different reason.
In a WND column just days ago, Brent Smith wrote: “Anyone with a functioning brain knows that Joe Biden cannot do live debates with Trump. Even at full capacity, Biden was an empty suit. But sadly, now it would be a blood bath.”
He said analysts already have talked about how to get Biden out of the commitment, such as imposing impossible demands on the president’s team. One is a “fact-checking” procedure that would target Trump.
Biden, who admits to being a “gaffe machine,” has said he’s excited to get on the stage with the president.
“I can hardly wait to debate him,” he said.
But his verbal misfires in recent months have caused widespread alarm. Fox News commentator Brit Hume noted that while Biden is historically known for gaffes and verbal blunders, “some [of] his recent ones suggest the kind of memory loss associated with senility.”
During recent interviews, Biden has forgotten where he was and dropped ideas mid-sentence.
The Trump campaign has capitalized, crafting a campaign video of many of Biden’s blunders.
Biden also recently snapped at a reporter questioning his cognitive abilities.
A recent poll showed nearly one American in four believes Biden is suffering from dementia.
The GOP reacted with:
Democrats’ advice to Joe Biden:
1) Don’t debate.
2) Don’t leave the basement.
3) Don’t concede the election.Odd way to project confidence in your nominee.
— Michael Ahrens (@michaelahrens) August 27, 2020
Clinton herself earlier gave Biden some advice: “Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances, because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually, I do believe he will win if we don’t give an inch and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is.”
