signalmankenneth
Verified User
The breathless advance coverage of the first debate between President Joe Biden and a well-known convicted felon has overlooked one key question: Will Donald Trump actually show up?
Until we see him set foot on the debate stage Thursday night in Atlanta, there’s a strong chance the former president chickens out and runs to the safety of a rally where he can comfortably air his myriad grievances and extract money from his gullible fans.
It wouldn’t be the first time he has blown off a debate. He refused to attend the second of three scheduled presidential debates in 2020 because it would be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And this year, he blew off all the GOP presidential primary debates.
Trump blasts out conspiracy theories ahead of a debate he clearly fears
Thursday's debate is on CNN with hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating. There will be no audience, and the microphones will be cut off so only one candidate can speak at a time. These are all things Trump agreed to, but that hasn't stopped him and his allies from using unhinged conspiracy theories to lay down suppressive fire ahead of what they’re already claiming will be a “rigged” debate.
It’s on CNN, so it’s rigged against Trump! The moderators are Trump haters! Best of all, of course, is the now-gospel belief in the right-wing media ecosystem that Biden will be juiced up on some kind of magical elixir of youth.
Presidential debate prep: Trump spent the weekend lying. Biden prepped. Thursday's debate will be interesting.
“He’s gonna be so pumped up,” Trump said of Biden at a recent Wisconsin rally. “He’s gonna be pumped up.”
With what? The Super Soldier Serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America?
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said the former president is always “demonstrating elite stamina” and “does not need to be programmed by staff or shot up with chemicals like Joe Biden does.”
What are the chemicals? Who knows? The lunkheaded speculation runs from simple caffeine to cocaine to vague “performance-enhancing drugs.” Where is the evidence? There is none. When you live in MAGA-Fantasyland, no evidence is required, just fever-swamp daydreams.
Trump has called for a drug test prior to the debate, ironic coming from a guy who keeps getting on rally stages and babbling nonsensically about sharks and Hannibal Lecter.
We must stop pretending Trump is a normal candidate
But despite all this preemptive excuse-making, many in the news media continue to presume Trump will show up at Thursday night’s debate and behave like a normal political candidate. He won’t because he is not in any way, nor has he ever been, a normal political candidate.
He is a narcissist and a liar. He is a convicted felon and an election denier. He is wholly disinterested in policy and singularly focused on grifting his followers and covering his own behind.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-chicken-presidential-debate-probably-080629745.html
Until we see him set foot on the debate stage Thursday night in Atlanta, there’s a strong chance the former president chickens out and runs to the safety of a rally where he can comfortably air his myriad grievances and extract money from his gullible fans.
It wouldn’t be the first time he has blown off a debate. He refused to attend the second of three scheduled presidential debates in 2020 because it would be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And this year, he blew off all the GOP presidential primary debates.
Trump blasts out conspiracy theories ahead of a debate he clearly fears
Thursday's debate is on CNN with hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating. There will be no audience, and the microphones will be cut off so only one candidate can speak at a time. These are all things Trump agreed to, but that hasn't stopped him and his allies from using unhinged conspiracy theories to lay down suppressive fire ahead of what they’re already claiming will be a “rigged” debate.
It’s on CNN, so it’s rigged against Trump! The moderators are Trump haters! Best of all, of course, is the now-gospel belief in the right-wing media ecosystem that Biden will be juiced up on some kind of magical elixir of youth.
Presidential debate prep: Trump spent the weekend lying. Biden prepped. Thursday's debate will be interesting.
“He’s gonna be so pumped up,” Trump said of Biden at a recent Wisconsin rally. “He’s gonna be pumped up.”
With what? The Super Soldier Serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America?
Trump's MAGA minions peddle pathetic claim Biden will be on drugs
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said the former president is always “demonstrating elite stamina” and “does not need to be programmed by staff or shot up with chemicals like Joe Biden does.”
What are the chemicals? Who knows? The lunkheaded speculation runs from simple caffeine to cocaine to vague “performance-enhancing drugs.” Where is the evidence? There is none. When you live in MAGA-Fantasyland, no evidence is required, just fever-swamp daydreams.
Trump has called for a drug test prior to the debate, ironic coming from a guy who keeps getting on rally stages and babbling nonsensically about sharks and Hannibal Lecter.
We must stop pretending Trump is a normal candidate
But despite all this preemptive excuse-making, many in the news media continue to presume Trump will show up at Thursday night’s debate and behave like a normal political candidate. He won’t because he is not in any way, nor has he ever been, a normal political candidate.
He is a narcissist and a liar. He is a convicted felon and an election denier. He is wholly disinterested in policy and singularly focused on grifting his followers and covering his own behind.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-chicken-presidential-debate-probably-080629745.html
