# What will be Trump's conditions for the debates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 10, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356 "2016-08-10T16:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/1 "2016-08-10T16:33:43Z")
According to [this article](http://time.com/4445182/donald-trump-debate-terms/), Trump wants “very badly” to debate Hillary, but he’ll negotiate the conditions of the debates. Obviously, he’ll do whatever he can to get moderators that he thinks will favor him. He more-or-less says that in the article. But what else will he try to get? My personal opinion is that he’ll ask for things that are completely unacceptable to the Commission on Presidential Debates. This would give him two possible outcomes: 1. He refuses to debate but continues to say that he really, really wanted to, but the Commission was “so against him. Sad.” that he couldn’t do so. 2. He does debate, but uses the Commission’s refusal of his terms to give him an out if he loses – “The debates were rigged. Very unfair. Sad!” But I have no idea what he might try to get. What are your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/2 "2016-08-10T16:38:22Z")
A tiny little podium to make his baby hands look larger. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/3 "2016-08-10T16:43:10Z")
No big words. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/4 "2016-08-10T16:53:45Z")
Moderators must be Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and Monica Lewinsky. No use of quotes from Trump speeches. Hillary must speak in Latin. Only one camera is allowed, and it must never leave Trump’s face. Trump gets to have an earpiece receiver to get facts from his handlers offstage. All questions must pertain to Benghazi. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/5 "2016-08-10T17:07:32Z")
Generally, if your behind by 10 points, you desperately want there to be debates, and your opponent is looking for an excuse to avoid them. So Trump’s actual leverage to get any sort of unusual concessions out of Hillary’s campaign in return for debating is pretty close to nil. If Trump says he’ll only participate in a Hannity moderated debate, or some other blatently unfair condition, Hillary will happily use it as an excuse to not debate at all. So I suspect for all his bluster about being an awesome negotiator, Trump will end up getting basically the same deal regarding debate conditions that have been standard in past campaigns. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/6 "2016-08-10T17:10:06Z")
No NFL, Hockey, Olympic events, Poker, Backgammon, Chess , Bridge , or tic tac toe on the same nights as his debates. If anyone doesn’t agree to that then the election is rigged. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/7 "2016-08-10T17:21:15Z")
Trump wants a more crowded debate floor. He knows if he goes one on one with Hillary that he will be trounced. He is afraid. Seriously. Those in the lead have no reason to debate. When you’re down by 10 points you have basically no leverage to overturn previously agreed to debate rules. Trump’s game is to duck out but stress that he _wanted_ to debate Hillary but the establishment/NFL/system/whatever cancelled them. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/8 "2016-08-10T17:22:32Z")
He’ll demand control over who’s allowed to sit in the audience (because what fun is a debate if people don’t boo everything Hillary says and cheer everything _he_ says?) ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/9 "2016-08-10T17:26:58Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > No NFL, Hockey, Olympic events, Poker, Backgammon, Chess , Bridge , or tic tac toe on the same nights as his debates. If anyone doesn’t agree to that then the election is rigged. You could be right. I’m a duplicate bridge player, and I just checked the calendar. There’s not a single day between Sept. 1 and the election day on which there is not at least one tournament played. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/10 "2016-08-10T17:27:41Z")
The Clinton campaign has already issued a statement saying that Hillary will attend the debates, and that they are not interested in any negotiations. Besides, I was under the impression that Trump was looking for concessions from the debate organizers, not the Clinton campaign. The organizers are the ones who decide on the venue, rules, moderator, and questions, right? Anyway, I agree that Trump is just looking for excuses to skip the debates, or for preemptive excuses for if he loses. I recall him saying something about needing to see what the conditions were, so I suspect that he won’t make any actual demands so much as pick things to complain about. _“That moderator hates me, pick another one. I want no time limit to my responses and the ability to interrupt whenever I want. I want final approval over all questions. I want to front-load a two minute speech complaining about the local Fire Marshal.”_ I’m torn, myself. On the one hand, I really want to see Hillary disassemble Trump. On the other hand, I don’t want to risk the chance that Trump comes out ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/11 "2016-08-10T17:30:45Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Trump wants a more crowded debate floor. He knows if he goes one on one with Hillary that he will be trounced. The problem is that the only other candidate who has even a slim chance of meeting the criteria even if everything breaks his way (Gary Johnson) is the last one Trump wants on stage – as it is, his vote total is likely to be about 75% NeverTrump protest votes and 25% actual libertarians. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/12 "2016-08-10T17:45:47Z")
[quote=“oft\_wears\_hats, post:10, topic:762356”] The Clinton campaign has already issued a statement saying that Hillary will attend the debates, and that they are not interested in any negotiations. Besides, I was under the impression that Trump was looking for concessions from the debate organizers, not the Clinton campaign. The organizers are the ones who decide on the venue, rules, moderator, and questions, right? /QUOTE] Rereading my OP, I see that I wasn’t clear. Yes, Trump will negotiate with the Commission on Presidential Debates, not with the Clinton campaign. The Commission I believe has already said that the debate conditions were decided on a year ago, and are not subject to change. If Trump insists they be changed, though, they might reconsider for fear of appearing too obstructive or partisan. They have not yet announced who the moderators will be, so I imagine there’s room for some negotiation there. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/13 "2016-08-10T17:49:08Z")
I was referring to **Simplicio’s** implication that Trump was trying to get concessions out of Hillary, though I should have quoted for clarity. FWIW, I didn’t think your OP was suggesting the same. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/14 "2016-08-10T18:19:09Z")
Trump wants all questions to be submitted in writing twenty-four hours before the debate. Along with Clinton’s answers. And he wants a hot chick there like the Mexican presidential debates had. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/15 "2016-08-10T19:39:04Z")
Here’s the Art of The Friggin’ Deal, Drumph. “Drumph? You can have my answer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the fee for the jet fuel it takes for me to fly in, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.” Drumph whines like a 1st grader. Clinton never responds. Says, “I’ve accepted the independent panel’s offer on the 3 debates. If Drump is there, fine. If he doesn’t show up…fine.” ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/16 "2016-08-10T19:56:17Z")
Candidates must be on the stage by themselves. No medical personal allowed to assist. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/17 "2016-08-10T20:03:53Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Rereading my OP, I see that I wasn’t clear. Yes, Trump will negotiate with the Commission on Presidential Debates, not with the Clinton campaign. The Commission I believe has already said that the debate conditions were decided on a year ago, and are not subject to change. If Trump insists they be changed, though, they might reconsider for fear of appearing too obstructive or partisan. > > They have not yet announced who the moderators will be, so I imagine there’s room for some negotiation there. I don’t know much on how debates are run, but why would the Commission change things on Trump’s demand? Has that ever been done before in past elections with a candidate demanding things be changed? The only people who would think that the Commission was being partisan are Trump supporters who already think everything is rigged against him. > [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > I’m torn, myself. On the one hand, I really want to see Hillary disassemble Trump. On the other hand, I don’t want to risk the chance that Trump comes out ahead. I find it unlikely that Trump would come out ahead. At best he holds his tongue and doesn’t say anything crazy, but then he doesn’t get much attention. But it’s really hard for him to hold his tongue, and I’m sure Clinton has been studying and would have so many lines ready to bait him with. But also, from the Republican debates, [Trump actually was hurt in the polls after them.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/15/donald-trump-claims-hes-won-every-debate-the-polls-beg-to-differ/?tid=a_inl) > [@](#): > > In the past, we’ve looked at post-debate polling in general to get a sense for how the fortunes of candidates fared. This is also imprecise, since polls measure any number of factors during discrete periods of time. The extent to which a debate is what moves a candidate up or down is very hard to determine. > > But, it’s probably the best tool we’ve got. And, contra Mr. Trump above, no candidate has done worse in the 7- and 14-day periods after debates than him. > > \ > > Trump saw his biggest drops after the second debate, which, not coincidentally, was the one where Carly Fiorina joined the big kid’s table and proceeded to smack Trump for comments he’d made about her appearance. Barring some very unusual circumstances like Professor Xavier sitting in the wings and controlling Trump so he doesn’t say anything terrible, it seems like Clinton benefits whether Trump debates or not. I think Trump knows this to some extent, so he’ll put forth demands on when and where the debates are, and who the moderators can or can’t be, and will drop out of at least one if not all. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/18 "2016-08-10T21:02:24Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > Candidates must be on the stage by themselves. No medical personal allowed to assist. Yes, I’ve heard people saying that Trump is hiding something negative that is medical-related. I don’t know whether this is true or not, but believe me, some pretty smart people seem to be saying this. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/19 "2016-08-10T21:47:38Z")
The media is not allowed to take any of the things he says during the debate and act like he said them. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356/20 "2016-08-10T22:14:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The media is not allowed to take any of the things he says during the debate and act like he said them. Trump must be allowed the use of a translator on stage, who will parse his comments to tell the audience what he _really_ meant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-trumps-conditions-for-the-debates/762356.md?page=2)