Presidential debate megathread (debate 1: June 27, 9pm EDT, CNN)

[Landslide Lyndon]

So I think trump is 100% going to use what going on in Israel to get joe to make a gaffe or really just  to make his base pissed off at joe
If he goes pro-Israel that mean lost pro-Palestine votes, if he goes pro-Palestine that lost pro-Israel votes and trying to go moderate seem only to piss off both sides

Trump himself has trashed Netanyahu and said that Israel's invasion must end soon. Accusing Biden of not being supportive enough will be pushing his luck.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Excellent news. Either Biden slays and calms everyone down, or he sucks and we replace him at the convention.

He isn't going to be replaced, but I really doubt he craters. Even 50% of his SOTU performance would be solid. If he can repeat this, he's going to roll over Trump.

Tradition hasn't been kind to incumbents in their first debates.
Then again Trump by skipping primary debates also had zero practice and he was never much of a debater.

[Landslide Lyndon]

You know as well as I do that the most likely outcome is somewhere in the mushy middle of "everyone thought the debate was depressing and no one really scored any major points." Much like the 2020 debates.

Nobody cares about the pundits and their opinions. It's the snap polls of the public which shape the narrative.

[Landslide Lyndon]

READY TO DEBATE SLEEPY JOE!!!

https://twitter.com/BidenHQ/status/1790736060370088178

[Landslide Lyndon]

That message is clearly not resonating with voters that were not already dyed-in-the-wool voting Democrat, whether the candidate be Donald Trump or Mitt Romney.

Everybody was saying the same s**t back in 2022: nobody cares about democracy and abortion, Democrats should talk more bout the economy, etc.
Look how that turned out.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Yeah, I'm tired of all this nihilism and cynicism by people who want to pat themselves on the back for being so smart and cool.
Biden has been a good president and only morons can seriously compare him with a guy whose incompetence cost the lives of a million people and who tried to become a dictator by sending a mob to murder his own VP.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Maybe it was mentioned somewhere but i guess none of the debates will be a townhall meeting.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I do have to ask, might CNN be cheeky, think they'd get more views in a three way debate, and count states where Kennedy turned in way more signatures than needed as him having ballot access?

Outside that, I don't think he makes it in unless the Libertarians somehow crossnominate him.

The Biden campaign seems to be under the impression that CNN would do the opposite and find a technicality to lock Kennedy out.

If the Biden or Trump campaigns do not want Kennedy on the stage he will not be there. CNN is in no position to dictate the rules. Biden campaign can simply refuse to do a 3 way debate and insist Kennedy would be nothing but a distraction only there because Trump is afraid to debate 1 on 1.

FWIW If I was the Biden campaign there is no way I would agree to a three way debate.

If Trump and his campaign really believe that RFK Jr. is siphoning votes from them (like the news say) then I don't get why they should want him on the debate stage.

[Landslide Lyndon]

RFK Jr. being up there would at least add something new to the mix. I can only imagine he'll come off as completely awful, probably even worse than the other two.

How kind of you to think that the antivaxxer fanatic who loves Putin and wants to doxx people who criticize him on the internet is PROBABLY worse than Biden.

[Landslide Lyndon]

After Trump's slurry ramble the day after his felony convictions, can his handlers actually risk him in a debate? It was so bad that the networks were commenting on how diminished he was mentally

He was the one who insisted for these debates. Pulling out will be a PR disaster.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I disagree; to a point. The debate is Trump's chance to mitigate the conviction fallout by pressing home his political persecution points; ie hammer on how the judge and his family are dem donors, how Bragg campaigned on persecuting Trump, how this was a novel legal theory stretched to target him with felonies (regardless of whether these are true). If he can stick to the script, appear coherent and stay calm and keep hammering home the message of, are you better off now than you were in 2019, the debate could be a reasonable chance to regain some ground.
 

Why do you continue repeating this lie? It was Letitia James who campaigned on that promise, not Bragg.
Do you people have difficulty telling one black person apart from another?

[Landslide Lyndon]

Trump needs to have a completely different approach to this debate.
He has to be respectful and dignified.
He needs to practice responses to provocative questions by the moderators and these responses need to be good in appearance if not in substance.

In short, he needs a personality transplant.

It's amazing that people still believe a 78-year old guy will suddenly change and become somebody he never was.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Ι guess Biden people also hope that by the end of the debate Trump will be too tired and confused to recite a prepared statement and instead his last image will be him rambling incoherently about something irrelevant to most viewers.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Debate moderators need to ask Trump directly if he stands by his decision to overturn the 2020 election, if he thinks Joe Biden stole it, etc. Make him tell the American people directly how he hates democracy.

Trump loves democracy. He was trying to protect democracy.

Biden hates democracy. He is prosecuting his political opponent.

Sarcasm?

Put the troll on ignore. It'll be better for all of us.