Biden faces higher stakes than ranting Trump in pivotal debates

JORDAN REID: Question, who out there misses the days, way back in 2020 when we watched a rotating cast of increasingly befuddled hosts, trying to maintain order during the presidential debates, as one of them ranted, and raved and floated virtually every convention and rule and generally behave like you know, just like a big old baby.

you know what, I kind of do miss the spectacle. If only because every time Trump opens his mouth, it’s an opportunity for him to once again prove that he is a narcissistic Dumbo with no class intelligence, empathy, or fundamental humanity. I said what I said. And I also have to say, it doesn’t actually make me feel great that we haven’t heard all that much from Trump these past couple of years. I mean, I’m not untruth social. So I get skip all that noise. And sure, he occasionally pops up in public to lament like the late great Hannibal Lecter, who in addition to not being dead in the whatever, he’s not a real person. It is so weird and I have to leave the clip here.

HANNIBAL LECTER: census taker once tried to test me. I ate his level with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

JORDAN REID: Okay, so when we do hear from Trump, it doesn’t tend to be super on message or coherent or safe. The problem of course, is that his supporters really do not care. And now we have debates on the horizon. One in June moderated by CNN is Jake Tapper and Danna bash, and a second of September hosted by ABC. Thanks to the fact that Trump has never heard of the concept of boundaries or respect for that matter. The Biden team had to impose a set of rules. First, there will be no in studio audience. This is a hat tip to the Biden team’s awareness that nothing gets Trump going quite like a crowd, as well as the fact that a crowd is likely to make it very difficult for Biden or the moderator, frankly, to be heard over the jeering and cheering. The debates will also likely feature microphones that can and presumably will be turned off if a candidate speaks out of turn, which is going to happen, like a lot. Now, the debates will be interesting, I’m sure. But in this particular moment, it feels to me like the stakes are way higher for Biden. Trump will say what he says never and we’ll just dough that’s just trumping be about it. But if Biden slips up goes much mouth loses his cool after a particularly hideous, painful jab from Trump about, I don’t know his family, the Republicans will be all over it. That has to be an incredibly stressful position in which to find himself again, considering the stakes at hand here. And Biden definitely knows that. His team just rejected Trump’s stated desire for two additional debates by stating quote, the debate about the debates is over, no more games. Well, here’s hoping