According to the New York Times [1], Donald Trump is considering just skipping the presidential debates in 2020, no matter who the Democrats select as their nominee.
Trump says he doesn’t want to attend the debates because he distrusts the Commission on Presidential Debates, which oversees and plans the events.
More specifically, reported Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni, “less of a concern for Mr. Trump than who will emerge as the Democratic nominee is which media personality will be chosen as the debate moderator, according to people in contact with him.”
Trump has long despised mainstream media, referring to networks other than Fox News as “fake news” and “the enemy of the people,” and suggesting that he would like to make it easier to file libel suits against reporters.
During the presidential debates in 2016, Trump fought with the moderators on air, at one point demanding that CNN anchor Anderson Cooper stop taking questions from the audience to talk more about Hillary Clinton’s email server.
But let’s be honest. Trump doesn’t want to attend the debates because he would completely bomb them. Remember all the sniffing and slurring in the 2016 debates?
Twitter felt the same:
Meaning because his cognitive condition has deteriorated to a point that a debate would lay bare. https://t.co/q0zP3HMOW6 [2]
— Schooley (@Rschooley) December 12, 2019 [3]
One of the things I think abt often, covering the Dem primary, is how much these candidates are preparing themselves under the assumption of rules that will be totally upended come general election https://t.co/AgJ8UseP35 [4]
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) December 12, 2019 [5]
Oh please. Trump wants to skip the presidential debates because he's a coward and is terrified a debate will expose what a dithering idiot he is. https://t.co/ebYvsiLK1w [6]
— Polly Sigh (@dcpoll) December 13, 2019 [7]
There is exactly 0% chance Trump agrees to any debates and news organizations supposed to host need to start figuring out now how they're going to handle it https://t.co/vs4M6fRleM [8]
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) December 13, 2019 [9]
This is notable since at least 50 percent of the conversations about who would be the best Dem to take on Trump center on who would be the best in the debates. https://t.co/RqgO7rSzee [10]
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) December 12, 2019 [11]
This is notable since at least 50 percent of the conversations about who would be the best Dem to take on Trump center on who would be the best in the debates. https://t.co/RqgO7rSzee [10]
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) December 12, 2019 [11]
If he loses, he will also not attend the next President’s Inauguration. Don’t be shocked anymore.
Historians: I know that a shocked Adams did not attend Jefferson’s, but he had also just lost a child.
Any others who could go to successor’s Inauguration but didn’t? https://t.co/W2RcuN6X9P [12]— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) December 13, 2019 [13]
Knew it. Of course he’s not gonna show up. What a coward. https://t.co/5rvZYoG96N [14]
— Bradley Whitford (@BradleyWhitford) December 13, 2019 [15]