If he truly believes that they why has Trump and his surrogets been pushing the narrative that it’s rigged in Biden’s favor? Trump even said he was considering losing the debate to make sure Biden is locked in as the Democrat’s nominee. That doesn’t sound like someone who is confident.
That standard boilerplate is there because he’s scared. Trump gets up there and says the trial is rigged because he knows the evidence is against him and he’s going to lose.
For the same reason he claimed the 2016 election was rigged against him even after he won - anything less than total victory is unacceptable to him, and the fact that he didn’t get a clean sweep of the Electoral College burns his ass.
In 2016, he didn’t think he was going to win. And I can’t believe I misspelled surrogates. Obviously the SDMB is rigged against me.
I’m not convinced of that. If he expected to lose, I don’t think he would have gone through with it - he would’ve bailed early on, just like he did in 2011.
BTW, for another data point, we now have Fox affiliates announcing that they’ll be simulcasting the debate;
I think he did not think he’d win. I think he expected to lose, and then to launch an anti-Hillary channel to grift the rubes.
But then he’d be a loser. And he can’t tolerate that. It may have been his Plan B, but he doesn’t go into things expecting not to win them, and if he realizes he is losing, he bails as soon as he can; e.g. his many court settlements, his corporate bankruptcies, and his presidential runs in 2000 and 2012. That’s his style. He’s the kid who unplugs the Super Nintendo before you can beat him at Street Fighter 2.
Chip Franklin of the Really American channel on YouTube opines that Trump will put tail between legs and squeak off.
Ironically perhaps, the GOP abandoned conservatism several years ago; they are now primarily radical reactionaries.
You are right.
I’ve been saying this for years. He was/is pissed that his stupid show was cancelled, and he wanted his face on TV.
His channel would make FOX look fair and balanced.
Right. He was, and still is, virtually assured of getting the Republican nomination.
The huge difference here is that the general election is probably going to be close and in fact some of the latest polls show Trump trailing Biden by a small margin. Whether or not Trump would prefer to avoid to debate – and so far he’s shown nothing but eagerness for it, though most of that is probably fake bravado – he cannot afford to skip it. It would be a huge blow to his campaign.
Honestly, I think this debate will be more of a headache for Biden than for Trump. Biden is the one who has to stay reasonable, positive, and likable while dealing with a gish-gallop of sewage. Biden will want to talk policy and defend his record, but instead he’ll be receiving insults, innuendos, and half-truths. (We can assume Hunter Biden will be mentioned!) When they say “Don’t wrestle with a pig,” this is what they mean.
Question. Why is anyone in this thread talking about “winning” or “losing” this debate, as if presidential debates have outcomes like that? These have never been academic debates, at least in my lifetime, and I’ve never seen one where both sides don’t come away saying they “won”.
If I were a betting man I’d put money on Trump not showing up, but not much. If he does show up, he’ll ramble like he always does and declare victory like all presidential candidates do.
Maybe there’s a slim chance that America sees a real medical issue on stage, but it would have to be extreme. Like someone having a stroke. Barring that, I predict this debate will have no effect on anyone.
Quite likely true, but I still believe it would have a significant negative effect on either party if they don’t show up. It’s also possible that Biden will score some important surprise points, whereas Trump will predictably just ramble with his usual lies and blather because that’s all he’s capable of doing.
I believe that’s true. If either bail it looks bad. If both get one under their belt they can squabble and not agree to any others and it won’t have an impact.
I agree with all of this. He truly believes he is a much better debater than Biden. He believes Biden is Sleepy Joe who is afraid to debate him. He believes he’s won every debate he’s been in. He’s not going to back out.
And the opportunity for maximum attention and publicity is irresistible. Trump will be there, ranting, interrupting and babbling.
I just hope Biden can bait him into going off into the kind of full-blown looniness he displays during campaign appearances.
Which to Trump is what winning looks like. To be fair, it’s gotten him this far.
Among morons as stupid as he is, yes.
As for Biden baiting him into losing his cool, I’m doubtful. Trump is dumb as a rock, but he does have a conman’s instinct for where the boundaries are. Even a sewer rat can take instinctive actions necessary for self-preservation without necessarily possessing any intelligence.
But that’s where the cognitive decline comes into play. A few years ago, he might have avoided it, but now?
You know he’s going to make many of his “this is a ver powful gabagool…” gaffes. How will Trump react when Biden asks, “Were those even words, man?” A little bit of frustration can go a long way.