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Like many Americans, I am dreading the first presidential debate of the 2024 election, an event thats all but certain to feature a litany of vile lies by one candidate and awkward, if not painful stumbles by another.

But Thursdays high-stakes 90-minute encounter will also see an exceedingly rare moment: Donald Trump onstage with a mic mutedat least when its President Bidens turn to respondafter the two candidates agreed to CNNs rules. An audience wont be present for the event either, another key departure from previous presidential debates.

The new rules appear to be an attempt to avoid the incoherent mess American voters witnessed during the 2020 debates, with Trump spewing toxic rhetoric, lies, and vicious personal attacks at a relentless clip. But will guardrails prove to be enough to shut up a man who, during countless moments, seems genuinely incapable of even the slightest restraint?

I was surprised that Trumps people let them agree to the muting of the microphone issue, Will Baker, director of New York Universitys Debate Fund, told me. Its going to be interesting to see how that actually plays out.

For decades, Baker has coached some of the countrys top college debaters and I reached out to hear his thoughts ahead of Thursdays rematch. He offered some insight into what strategies Biden could employ to win over a serial liar, what he about those absurd cocaine insinuations, and what Trump could do to circumvent the mic-muting.

Lets start by reflecting on the 2020 debates. What was your reaction at the time?

It was disappointing. It fell apart so dramatically and voters were ultimately deprived of any debate on real issues. It sadly felt much more like watching a couple of teenagers that I needed to discipline than an actual presidential debate.

Going into tonight, who would you say has the advantage?

Its fascinating because the advantage really comes down more to the performance of the night, rather than innate skills. Its going to be about momentum tonight. On policy though, I think Biden has the advantage because thats always where hes most comfortable. Hes got the track record of the past few years and also a chance to correct any misperceptions.

As for Trump, his biggest advantages are connection and charisma. Again, very surprised he agreed not to have an audience there because thats always been shown to be a huge benefit for him. If Biden has any type of slip-up on the policy front, getting a date or event wrong, Trump can pounce on those things in the moment.

He might take the opportunity to literally walk over to Bidens face and talk through Bidens mic.

Do you think Trump is going to stick to the mic rules? Because I can totally see this man just shouting anyway.

I have been wondering about that. He might take the opportunity to literally walk over to Bidens face and talk through Bidens mic. Trump could even say at the outset, Hey, yeah, dont cut off my mic when I start telling the truth about Biden. There are lots of ways that [Trumps team] could play that, so Im fascinated to see how it goes. My assumption is that they agreed to it because [Trumps team] has a strategy. So Ill be interested to see that play out.

Wow, thats both fascinating and horrifying. What about Trumps record of lying? How do you debate someone known to straight up lie on stage?

In some forms of debate, you have protection because the judges are looking at evidence. But in an environment like the one Biden will be in, the lying is already baked into the calculus, right? So Bidens strategy has to be to identify overarching themes where the lies dont change things. For example, if Trump says, Look, youve broken far more laws than I have, or, you know, your sons done XYZ, Biden needs to have a compelling, quick, catchy phrase. Not a long explanation of all the felonies. Like, I hope his team wont have a listing of these charges because thats going to bore the audience.

He should prepared to say something like, Only one of us has a sentencing hearing in two weeks for 34 felonies. Or, You can lie to the American public but the courts dont lie. That would change the pace. Its all about rhythm. Everyone knows that Trump is going to lie. What they dont know is, how will Biden handle it and demonstrate that hes presidential and has leadership.

A few weeks ago, Trump was mocking Joe Bidens debate skills. Now hes claiming, without evidence of course, that Biden is going to be getting a shot in the ass to enhance his debate performance. What are we to make of that?

I was stunned that they went back to performance-enhancing drugs because they did that both in 2020 and 2016 against Hillary Clinton. This is just an old trick that hes that hes bringing back up. Seeing it come up again was sad to me because its a sign of desperation, rather than something new or innovative around that. Its also an indication that Trump is trying to lower expectations. If your strategy is that your opponent cant remember anything, that they cant function in public and those types of things, youve already lowered that bar and you have to raise it if you want your guy to have a shot at winning the debates.

Is there a drug of choice among college debaters?

Not to my knowledge. But as directors, our students would hopefully keep that away from us over plausible deniability concerns. Ive never had a student come and say, Hey, what do I need to take thats illegal? Stay awake? A lot of them instead have had way too much coffee or Red Bull. But I dont know of any kind of amphetamines or drug of choice in the college circuit.

Not even beta blockers?

No. Im going to be in five different debate director meetings over the next week and were not having a drug epidemic conversation.

Trump seemed to imply that Biden would be using cocaine during the debate. From a professional perspective, would the use of cocaine even be a good strategy?

That is a horrible idea. Cocaine creates hyped-up reactions, right? The whole thing about a debate is that you dont have a list of the questions beforehand. So if you get ahead of yourself, thats how people often make the most mistakes.

So being coked-up for a presidential debate is probably the worst idea ever.

Aside from drugs then, what is your best advice for debate prep?

Sleep is a weapon. Most of the time, when people make mistakes during debates, theyre tired or not focused. I tell my debaters that when they are getting ready for a debate, they should do things that help them stay focused and relaxed. For some people that might be coffee, for others, it might be a 20-minute walk. For some people that might be meditation. There isnt one magic elixir.

Originally posted here:
A Renowned Debate Expert on How Biden Can Beat Trump's Lies in Real Time Mother Jones - Mother Jones

President Biden and former president Donald Trump will face off Thursday in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, offering a rare chance for viewers to watch the two candidates contrast their vision for the future.

No question, this is a high-stakes moment for both candidates, said Kate Bedingfield, a former White House communications director for Biden who helped him prepare for his 2020 debates, and who now works as a political commentator for CNN.

The debate will probably be the first time many voters tune into what they have to say, so their performances could shape the rest of this very close race. When the two last debated in 2020, Trump constantly interrupted Biden, which some strategists said damaged his campaign. This time, the mics will be muted when its not a candidates turn to speak, and there wont be a live audience.

Heres what strategists on both sides say needs to happen for each candidate to have a successful debate.

Democratic strategists say Biden is expected to steer many conversations back to his bread and butter on the campaign trail: talking about issues around protecting Americans freedoms whether thats voting access, reproductive care or democratic norms. Polls show that a vast majority of Americans support abortion rights and that stopping threats to democracy is a top issue for Americans on both sides of the aisle.

Bidens goal is to remind voters this is not a referendum on Biden; its a choice between him and Trump, said Democratic strategist Tim Hogan, who worked for Hillary Clintons presidential campaign in 2016 and Amy Klobuchars in 2020.

But voters who say democracy is a top issue arent necessarily Biden voters. In six swing states, key voters who could decide the election trust Trump more than Biden on democracy issues, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.

On immigration, Biden may be on the defensive. Record levels of migrants have been crossing the southern border since he took office. Leading up to this debate, he has upset both sides of the aisle: He made moves to close the border when migrant crossings hit a certain number per day, enraging civil rights groups. And he just made it easier for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to get a path to citizenship, which many in his base support.

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But partly because of his overall unpopularity, Biden should spend less time defending his record and more time pitching what hed do in his second term, Democratic strategists said.

President Joe Biden is participating in the CNN debate set for June 27. Washington Post White House reporter Matt Viser breaks down what to expect. (Video: The Washington Post)

Even though both men would be the oldest president ever if they win in November, voters say theyre more concerned about Bidens age, 81, than Trumps, 78. So Biden may be under more of a microscope than Trump if he commits any verbal stumbles an unfair measure, perhaps, given he has a stutter or gives a lackluster performance. Rather than scripted speeches, hell have to compete in real time with Trumps showmanship.

Democratic strategists expect Biden to come across as fiery and passionate. They point to Bidens performance at the State of the Union in March, where he slammed Republicans and challenged them in real time to a debate as an example of a strong public performance.

Democrats anxious about Bidens performances shouldnt be, Bedingfield said. He really is a game day player, she said. And he certainly knows the stakes of this debate. So I think we can expect a really energized, engaged and aggressive Joe Biden is going to show up.

Republican strategists say Trump should avoid the tones of grievance he strikes on the campaign trail, where he frequently claims without evidence that he won the 2020 election and complains that hes being unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department. In his ideal debate, he wont call those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, patriots or talk about pardoning them, and hell stay focused on pocketbook issues.

Trump talking about retribution is unnecessary, said strategist Jesse Hunt, who has run communications for Republican candidates across the country. It distracts from the real differences he has with Biden, and that is what independents care about.

When it comes to issues voters care deeply about, Trump does well with voters. Right now, polls show voters give him better marks than Biden on handling the economy, crime and immigration. Trumps advisers have urged him to talk about the differences between his presidency and Bidens when it comes to inflation and immigration, The Washington Posts Michael Scherer and Marianne LeVine report.

The main question for Trump allies is whether he can stay on message.

When Trump speaks, he speaks with such conviction that it gives people confidence he knows what hes talking about, Hunt said.

Donald Trump is participating in the CNN debate on June 27. Washington Post political reporter Isaac Arnsdorf dissects what he'll be keeping an eye on. (Video: The Washington Post)

Strategists on both sides say Trump needs to give a clear answer on where he stands on abortion bans and medication abortion. This is one of the few major issues that play strongly for Biden, and Trump has tried to avoid taking hard-and-fast positions on how and when abortions should be allowed.

For example: After paving the way for the court to overturn Roe v. Wade with his three Supreme Court nominees, he says bans should be left up to the states. But when an 1860s abortion ban was revived in Arizona, Trump said it went too far. (The governor signed a repeal in May.)

Hes also ducked saying what he thinks should happen with a pill commonly used in medication abortion that the Supreme Court recently protected.

The Biden campaign has been working hard to cast Trump as unhinged, more so than the last time he was president. If Trump performs at this debate like he does at his rallies last weekend he suggested migrants fight for sport he could play right into that narrative.

Voters know a lot about these guys, said Sarah Longwell, the publisher of the anti-Trump, conservative Bulwark media franchise, and the question for them is: Am I more worried about Biden being older, or am I more worried about Trump being a crazy lunatic?

The Biden and Trump campaigns have negotiated new rules for the 2024 presidential debates. Here's what we know. (Video: Blair Guild/The Washington Post)

Read more:
Analysis | What Biden, Trump need to do to win Thursday's presidential debate - The Washington Post

Donald Trump may be standing across from Joe Biden during Thursdays presidential debate on CNNbut itll be Jake Tapper who will be his true enemy.

The moderator will likely be the target of repeated jabs from Trump which one network executive who organized previous debates involving the ex-president told the Beast would be impossible for Tapper and his co-moderator Dana Bash to stop.

Trump and his allies have spent weeks signaling that they will go after CNN and particularly Jake Tapper, long a target of MAGA vituperationand stepped up the rhetoric in the last few days.

He made the point clear to influencer and boxer Logan Paul in a June 13 interview, chiding Tapper as Fake Tapper with a caveat: I used to get along with Jake Tapper.

Look, CNN is the enemy, Trump added. They thought I was gonna turn CNN and Tapper [down.]

He told a rally in Philadelphia on Saturday that the debate was being moderated by Fake Tapper, who really hates Trump. Tapper was brought up in the city.

And again, in an interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump repeatedly referred to the CNN anchor as Fake Tapper throughout the conversation.

The breadcrumbs left extend to his family and closest retainers. Eric Trump complained to Foxs Maria Bartiromo that Tapper has compared my father to Hitler before on Sunday. A day later, CNN host Kasie Hunt shut down an interview with Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt after she claimed Tapper was a biased anchor.

No silver bullet for that.

Well, first of all, it would take someone five minutes to Google Jake Tapper Donald Trump to see Jake Tapper has consistently Leavitt began saying, prompting an intervention from Hunt.

Maam, were going to stop this interview if youre going to keep attacking my colleagues, Hunt said before abruptly ending the interview.

CNN will have spent weeks preparing Tapper for an onslaught from Trump. The network has more power on its side than previous debates. There is no audience for Trump to interact with. The presence of a loudly pro-Trump crowd was blamed in part for the disastrous town hall the network held with the candidate in New Hampshire in May last year. And when Trump and Biden meet, the rules tonight will allow Tapper and Bash to mute their microphones if they try to speak over each other.

But the former network executive whos produced some of Trumps 16 previous debates said all that might not matter.

You can control a candidate via production mechanisms and try to enforce the rules that way, the executive said.

The far trickier piece is: How do you try to corral the conversation when candidates are not complying with the rules? And honestly, there's really no silver bullet for that, and there's no preparation really that can account for it. You just have to get the moderator used to those kinds of confrontations and those kinds of interactions.

The expected onslaught against Fake Tapper is the latest example of Trump working the refs, the network executive saidand it works for his base.

Criticizing an institution like the mainstream media has been a plank of the MAGA movement from the beginning, the executive said. It obviously appeals to those voters, and so there's no reason not to repeat a winning attack line. I also think that, you know, spinning the outcome of the debate has always been part of that process.

President Trump should cancel this.

Trumps last debate moderated by the CNN anchor was in March 2016, a debate Tapper said he was surprised was much more civil than he expected. We were preparing for a much more feisty and more interrupting crowd, Tapper told the Los Angeles Times. Instead we got to ask every question we wanted to ask.

Trump acolytes have used Tapper as a figurehead for their CNN ire. Axios reported as far back 2017 that GOP operatives tried to get a conservative-friendly site to write a hit piece on Tapper after a contentious interview between him and Kellyanne Conway, and MAGA media outlets have tried to frame Thursdays debate as a three-on-one attack on Trump.

CNN owes you an apology today, Steve Bannon told Leavitt in a War Room episode on Monday. And if we dont get that apology to Karoline Leavitt and to the Trump campaign and to MAGA today, President Trump should cancel this.

Trumps attacks toward debate moderators isnt new. He sparred with Foxs Chris Wallace during the first presidential debate in 2020, lamenting that he was debating you, not [Biden], and he complained on Twitter about NBCs Kristen Welker prior to the second debate, claiming she had always been terrible and unfair. (Trump did not chastise her directly during the debate, and he eventually did a one-on-one interview with Welker to launch her run as Meet the Press moderator.)

Tapper hasnt responded directly to Trumps pre-debate comments, though CNN released a statement praising him and Bash, saying there are no two people better equipped to co-moderate a substantial and fact-based discussion.

Read more here:
Donald Trump Will Try to Annihilate Jake Tapper at the Debate - The Daily Beast

Listen to and follow The Run-Up Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

We dont know exactly what will happen when President Biden and former president Donald J. Trump take the debate stage in Atlanta tonight.

We do know, however, that the first debate between the major party candidates is happening earlier in the election season than usual. And we also know that weve seen a version of this show before.

Their past matchups have featured bitter insults, constant interruptions and were political spectacles judged more on optics than on substance.

This year, considering that the candidates are offering radically different visions for the country, its hard to imagine an election in which the substance would matter more.

So, today, at least on The Run-Up, theres no buzzer, no microphone muting and no debate-stage theatrics.

Instead, we call four Times colleagues to talk about what the candidates are actually promising for a second term on four key issues: the economy, immigration, abortion and foreign policy.

The Run-Up is your guide to understanding the 2024 election. Through on-the-ground reporting and conversations with colleagues from The Times, newsmakers and voters across the country, our host, Astead W. Herndon, takes us beyond the horse race to explore how we came to this moment in American politics. New episodes on Thursdays.

The Run-Up is hosted by Astead W. Herndon and produced by Elisa Gutierrez, Caitlin OKeefe and Anna Foley . The show is edited by Rachel Dry and Lisa Tobin. Engineering by Sophia Lanman and original music by Dan Powell , Marion Lozano, Pat McCusker , Sophia Lanman,Diane Wong and Elisheba Ittoop . Fact-checking by Caitlin Love.

Special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Sam Dolnick, Larissa Anderson, David Halbfinger, Mahima Chablani, Jeffrey Miranda and Maddy Masiello.

Read more:
Ahead of the CNN Debate, Trump vs. Biden on the Issues - The New York Times

Tomorrow night, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash of CNN have a big job: asking two unpopular men who have been president what they would do with a second term.

The stakes could not be higher. President Biden and former President Donald Trump have starkly different visions for the presidency and the future of the country. This will be their first meeting since 2020, and they dont have another planned until September.

I dont know if well get the debate we want, or just the debate we deserve, but I do know that the questions Tapper and Bash choose to ask really matter. So we at On Politics would humbly and helpfully like to offer some ideas. Your ideas.

Last week, I asked readers to tell me the questions you hope to hear at the debate, and I received hundreds of insightful and occasionally trollish responses. Its clear you are hungry for a debate about issues that arent getting a lot of attention on the campaign trail. Youre also looking for Biden and Trump to convince you why, in their second go-round, you should get excited about them. And you want both of them to address their own ages, and not just each others.

Below, Ive laid out some of the questions that stood out to me most, with some small edits for clarity and style. Hope youre reading, Jake and Dana. No need to thank us!

The 2024 election is a contest between two men who have a cold, hard record of being president, which many of you hope the moderators will dig into. James Hall, an independent voter from Colorado, offered a question I liked for its directness.

What have you done that makes you think you deserve to be the president of the United States again?

Anne McKelvey, a lifelong Pennsylvanian, wants to know about both mens regrets.

What do you feel was your biggest mistake during your presidency?

Many of you want the stakes for democracy to be clearly spelled out onstage especially when it comes to Trumps plans for a second term. You want him to be asked directly about his promise to be a dictator on Day 1, and about my colleagues reporting that he plans to use the government to seek revenge on his political opponents.

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Original post:
Heres the Biden-Trump Debate We Want on Thursday - The New York Times