Although the Republican presidential primary race is technically still underway, former President Donald Trump’s massive lead over his only remaining serious challenger makes him the presumptive nominee for a third election cycle in a row.
As such, he is already focused on the general election, which will likely present voters with a rematch of the 2020 race.
During a recent interview, Trump, who opted not to participate in the primary debates, challenged President Joe Biden to meet him on the debate stage.
🚨BREAKING: President Trump challenges Joe Biden to DEBATE, predicts Biden will be removed by Democrat Party or family:
"I don't think he's going to run. I'd like to go for immediate debates."
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 6, 2024
“I’d like to call for, immediately, debates,” he said. “I’d like to debate him now because we should debate. We should debate for the good of the country.”
Of course, it did not take long for Biden to respond, declining the challenge while attempting to land a political jab against his predecessor.
“Well, if I were him, I’d want to debate me too,” the president said. “He’s got nothing else to do.”
Trump, who is not only campaigning far and wide but also dealing with multiple civil and criminal issues being brought by his political adversaries, has frequently described Biden as incapable of performing the duties of the office.
During the same interview in which he called for a debate, Trump weighed in on the president’s decision to skip the traditional pregame Super Bowl interview for a second year in a row.
“He can’t do it because he can’t talk,” Trump asserted.
While the Biden campaign has attempted to defend the decision as part of a “creative” strategy that relies “less on the formulas of the past,” it is clearly reinforcing the message that the 81-year-old incumbent is not up to the task of articulating and defending his positions.
“The Super Bowl is super ratings and generally a full-house free pass for a president,” argued George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno. “The interview is more apple pie than food for thought. So for Biden to take a pass on this (so to speak) will be taken by the over-the-hill crowd as another piece of evidence that he’s not in the game. It’s safer for him — no interview means no gaffes, no viral video of a mangled answer. But it also gives another punchline to the standup comics and the armchair quarterbacks.”
