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

[President Johnson]

Listen, Jack, you're gonna get your a** beat on stage.

[President Johnson]

CNN reporting that Trump’s senior campaign is “very upset” about how Biden has “taken control of the debate narrative.” As I suspected, Biden laid a trap for Trump and Trump fell right into it

That's actually evidence that Biden has a competent campaign staff in place. And something that makes more confident about his chances. They're certainly taking this as serious as possible.

[President Johnson]

Will the other debates in October still happen then?

Interestingly this will also be the first debate in which the moderator will refer to both candidates as "Mr. President."

[President Johnson]

Unforced error for Biden to push for the mic rule. He won the first debate in 2020 due to Trump being unable to shut up.

Yeah and he can't have another "can you shut up, man" line if the mics are muted.

I just want him to call Trump "Jack" at one point.

[President Johnson]

Is it this time of the year again?

If I were Biden, I would accept under the condition that Trump publishes his tax returns.

https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1791695874512363954

[President Johnson]

I think having the debates earlier in the year helps Trump, actually.

The public memory is short. Unless he absolutely BOMBS the first debate, I think most will consider it a draw and it won't be in the public memory by November.

The second and final debate is September 10th. That's almost 2 months out from the election. Again, unless Trump bombs this one, has a Gerald Ford "there is no domination of Eastern Europe" moment, I don't think it'll have any major impact. For either, really

"no matter what happens with the debates, it helps Trump actually"

god i am EXHAUSTED

It's kind of odd when you consider yourself a huge Obama stan while strong critic of Biden at the same time. From a Democratic perspective, Biden has been a better president and party leader. Only terms of charisma, Obama is obviously in a league of his own, only comparable with Clinton and Reagan.