I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that he uses the words “Loser Beau.”
I predict him squibbing out, but God, would l love him show up. I get such a perverse thrill from watching him humiliate himself on World-Wide TV. Cringe-Comedy Gold!
I don’t know that they will extend him the courtesy.
Judge Merchan didn’t.
I would like to hear “Convicted Felon Trump”.
I suppose that’s asking too much.
Actually , this word could work well if Biden uses it. The one label that Trump fears most is being called a loser. It strikes at the very core of his being.
If during the debate, Biden works the word “loser” into every single time he speaks, Trump will go crazy. He may throw a tantrum , pound his fists on the podium, stamp his feet and just scream like a toddler.
for example:
The reporter asks about, say, the economy, Biden should say, “well unlike Trump who was a loser on economic policy, under my administration, the numbers improved”
The reporter asks about border control. Biden should say, "we all saw that Trump is a loser, and couldn’t build his wall…But I am doing better…
Trump won’t even hear what Biden says, he will only hear “Trump is a Loser, loser,loser.loser…”
I really think Trump would melt down, lose control of himself, and begin babbling even worse than his usual style of speech.
It would be fun (or scary) to watch, and Biden could do it while still speaking well and sounding presidential.
IIRC, the debate conditions include no live audience, muted mics and that the debaters stay seated. That should (as was intended) turn the temperature way down. So while Mr Trump may throw red meat around, there won’t be any hooting and baying from an audience to build up steam.
I’m with those that say he’ll duck out. I’m guessing the reason will be he has to prepare for his TOTALLY UNFAIR sentencing hearing which is scheduled for exactly 2 weeks (heh, heh) from the debate.
(Edited to fix the reference to the hearing)
And he’ll complain that it’s too cold, and Biden is doing it deliberately.
Unlike the other implausible thread, this one I say is 50-50. I wouldn’t be surprised either way.
Emily Post has entered the chat:
Formally Addressing the Former President
When addressing a former President of the United States in a formal setting, the correct form is “Mr. LastName.” (“President LastName” or “Mr. President” are terms reserved for the current head of state.) This is true for other ex-officials, as well. When talking about the person to a third party, on the other hand, it’s appropriate to say, “former President LastName.” This holds for introductions, as well: A current state governor is introduced as “Governor Tom Smith,” while you’d introduce an ex-governor as “former Governor Jim Bell.”
I hope the debate moderator adheres to this rule, as addressing the debaters as “President Trump” and “President Biden” respectively would make it sound like we have a diarchy and would give Trump an advantage he wouldn’t otherwise have.
“If I have to wear prison garb, he has to wear prison garb!”
FWIW, that was in 1922. The next generation’s etiquette czar, Amy Vanderbilt consulted former president Harry Truman in 1955 who said, I do not care what people call me, but I always addressed Herbert Hoover as “Mr. President.”"
Yeah, I suspect you’re right. His ego as well as his public persona won’t let him back down; he’ll have to either follow through and then retcon how he won, or he’ll have to bow out, and then come up with an excuse of some kind how the evil Libs robbed everyone of his awesome debating performance.
Basically what @ParallelLines is saying; he’ll ask for a bunch of non-standard things, and when he’s denied, it’ll be the Democrats’ fault, and he was robbed, etc…
Or he’ll just lie egregiously, and say something like “I wasn’t allowed to debate argle bargle corrupt justice system biden crime family purple monkey dishwasher.”
I don’t know how this is even a question. If you set up a camera Trump will lean it front of it. He knows he wins every debate and that he will beat feeble Joe under any circumstances. He’s not looking to back out. It’s how malignant narcissists work. He’s not afraid of debating.
Personally I don’t see the reason to debate for either candidate in June. Wait until after the conventions.
I actually don’t think Trump has that kind of confidence now.
Narcissists always present as if they are experiencing no fear or distress, but such bravado doesn’t necessarily reflect their interior state.
Trump is a broken Humpty-Dumpty trying to portray stability (though he didn’t build the wall, he can perhaps appear to sit on it). He is failing.
That seems like wishful thinking to me. He is still jumping in front of every microphone he can. Just a few weeks ago here in New Jersey he spoke for 90 minutes without a break in front of a large crowd. He still believes he is a master orator.
He doesn’t so much debate as he does bait his opponents. He may think he’s a master orator, or even a master debater, but really he’s just a master baiter.
I respectfully disagree. I understand that most people here are slightly liberal, but I find this whole discussion astounding. The suggestion that Trump would be fearful of discussing anything with Biden is silly. I can’t understand why this seems to be hard for you to believe.
There will be a debate later this month, I’m quite sure of that. Or at least if it doesn’t happen, it won’t be because Trump bows out.
Well, he is running for president. He will keep pandering to his base until the bitter end.
He is good at working a moron crowd. A debate, however, puts him in a non-adulation situation.
In 2024, we definitely live in an astounding political world!
The opposite proposition would have been hard to believe in 2016 and 2020. This time around, however, it’s a different, weaker, and crazier Trump.
Sure, on one level, he does want to debate Biden. But think about it. He and his surrogates have done nothing but lower expectations for Biden in a debate: he’s old, sleepy, senile, etc. If Biden does even sorta good in a debate, Trump looks like the dumbfuck that he is.
I get a win-win here. Either I’m right, or the thing I’d actually prefer happens. Hope you’re correct!
He doesn’t treat a debate any different than he does any other talk. He blusters and bullies and insults then declares victory.
In a way he’s not wrong. By any metric he lost every debate in the Republican primaries. He had no good ideas, didn’t have enough knowledge or material to give decent answers and he was basically outmatched by the field. But the soundbites made him the candidate. By our standards he’s never won a debate and yet he won the presidency and came too damn close to winning it twice. He is not afraid to debate.