Trump Expected to Go Low During the First 2020 Presidential Debate

Abigail Covington
·3 min read
Trump Expected to Go Low During the First 2020 Presidential Debate

From Esquire

On Sunday morning, President Trump reminded a weary, traumatized nation that it’s officially debate season with an outlandish tweet demanding that his competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden, take a drug test “prior to or after the debate on Tuesday night.”

Preemptively forcing an opponent into a losing position is a classic Trump strategy, pulled straight from The Despot’s Playbook. The logic is as follows: If Biden doesn’t do well, it’s because he’s “sleepy” and lacks the raw vim and vigor of our bloated Commander in Chief. But if he does do well, it’s because, naturally, he ripped a few lines of immediate-release Aderrall right before taking center stage at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University. It’s a cheap and transparent technique, and it’s likely just a preview of what’s to come during Tuesday’s debate.

The first of three debates, the match-up will be moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace and broadcast live starting at 9 PM EST on Tuesday, September 29th. It’ll run for 90 minutes without commercial interruption. According to the Commission of Presidential Debates, the topics for the night include The Trump and Biden Records, The Supreme Court, Covid-19, The Economy, Race and Violence in our Cities, and The Integrity of the Election. They were chosen by the moderator Chris Wallace. The candidates will have 15 minutes to discuss each topic. Voters will have plenty of ways to watch the debate. All of the major networks will be airing it, including CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, C-SPAN, NBC and MSNBC. The New York Times will livestream the event as well.

According to the Washington Post, Trump is gearing up to go hard on Biden’s private life. He wants to focus specifically on Hunter Biden, the vice president’s son, whose rocky personal life and previous role as a board member of the Ukrainian natural gas firm, Burisma Holdings, has been a favorite focus of conservative media outlets. By going after Biden’s family, Trump’s team hopes to rattle Biden and force him into losing his temper. Knowing this, Biden’s aides are actively encouraging the vice president to keep his cool, and he appears to be taking their advice to heart. Speaking at a virtual fundraiser earlier this month, Biden told donors, “I hope I don’t get baited into getting into a brawl with this guy.”

Thankfully, the two candidates won’t be punching-distance from each other. Due to the Coronavirus, their podiums will be spaced farther apart than usual. They are also unlikely to shake hands at the start of the debate — a fitting adjustment for our polarized times.

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