You knew this was coming: Trump May Skip 2020 Debates

[crazytown]

Will Trump Debate a Democrat in 2020? He’s Not So Sure.

WASHINGTON — President Trump is discussing with his advisers the possibility of sitting out the general election debates in 2020 because of his misgivings about the commission that oversees them, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Mr. Trump has told advisers that he does not trust the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonprofit entity that sponsors the debates, the two people said.

Less of a concern for Mr. Trump than who will emerge as the Democratic nominee is which media personality will be chosen as the debate moderator, according to people in contact with him.

At a state-of-the-race campaign briefing in Arlington, Va., the president’s advisers declined to comment on what their plan was for the debates. One senior adviser to the president seemed to wince at the question, and said it was not something advisers were prepared to discuss until next year.

In the 2016 general election debates, Mr. Trump repeatedly complained about being at a disadvantage to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee. And the post-debate polls showed Mr. Trump had good reason to be concerned: Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton were essentially tied in the polls going into the first debate, but she received a bump after each of the three face-to-face matchups.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/us/politics/trump-presidential-debate-democrat.html

Misgivings about the debates commission my ass!

[highplainsdem]

1. Yep. I've been predicting that for months. He'll debate only if he's way behind in the polls and

he thinks a strong debate performance could turn that around.

This is why I thought all the emphasis on debate skills for our candidates was so pointless.

You might as well try to challenge Trump to a spelling bee...

[Dopers_Greed]

2. Not surprised. His performance was atrocious in the 2016 debates

I could not hold back laughter during most of his attempts at serious commentary on foreign affairs.

[appalachiablue]

3. Some days,

[TwilightZone]

4. Eh, not happening.

It's just more of his blather. He'll show up, in part because he loves to hear himself talk about how great he is.

[crazytown]

8. Like the White House Correspondents' Dinner?

Yes he hates people laughing at him. Lucky Biden would never laugh in his face

[BlueIdaho]

5. Just one more thing Trump won't do.

Not surprising. Seems like Trump has decided the best way for him to survive his Presidency is by hiding his incompetence from public view. I hope he’s dead wrong.

[Thekaspervote]

6. I have thought that ...and said it out loud. He knows how stupid he would look

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. He won't debate unless he can get Sean Hannity as the moderator.

[TexasTowelie]

38. Add Brian Kilmeade and Steve Deucy to the moderator's list

and you have a full panel.

[TheCowsCameHome]

9. Brain spurs acting up, he'll beg off.

[boomer_wv]

10. Fine.

Have them anyway. 2 hour nation democratic infomercial in prime time.

[oldsoftie]

12. Exactly. Show the world he's a baby.

[Grokenstein]

22. In fact

...they should set aside an empty high chair in his place.
Leave a Sharpie on the tray.

[SeattleVet]

36. Empty chair and an empty suit.

Few would be able to tell the difference.

[Blue_true]

20. Bingo. I can't understand why some people are wetting their pants over that fool refusing to

debate. The democratic nominee takes the floor for two hours and give his unopposed view of where we should be going as a country.

[DENVERPOPS]

40. The Republican owned media

wouldn't allow that to happen for a second, let alone two hours.

Trump is such a wussie.......

Last time, Hillary should have stopped the debate, mid sentence, and turned to the Moderator and asked him to stop Lard Ass from stalking her around the stage......We all know how he loves to be humiliated in front of a national audience by a woman........and called out on his infantile bullying.......

[Grasswire2]

11. called this a long, long time ago.

..and that's why the relative debate skills of Dem candidates haven't been particularly predictive of success in 2020.

[virgogal]

13. So no debate..we did without them until 1960.

[Blue_true]

23. NO!!!!

Our nominee must insist that either a debate or a town hall be held. If Trump skips, our nominee gets the floor for two full hours.

[dlk]

14. Trump's oversized ego may win out and he may not be able to resist.

I’m guessing he won’t miss an opportunity to blather in front of the cameras’ especially if he thinks he can hurl insults at his opponent. Trump is addicted to the camera.

[crazytown]

15. trump is not addicted to being laughed at -

White House Correspondents Dinner

[dlk]

16. Trump is so delusional he probably would be more focused on insulting his opponent.

Who knows? The only thing we know for sure is Trump is completely off the rails.

[OhNo-Really]

17. Heck, maybe Barr & Roberts can cancel the election

Like declare national emergency or some such bs

Nothing would surprise me.

[Blue_true]

18. Let him.

The Democratic Party nominee should insist that the debate date then become a town hall, and go in expecting hostile questions. If Trump wants to leave the entire floor to our candidate, then fucking let him, then turn his decision into a disaster for him.

[TexasTowelie]

39. I'd be willing to let the Green Party candidate

take the stage to make it a legitimate debate and smear them for their role in throwing the 2016 election to Trump.

[Blue_true]

44. No way. The Green Party only attacks democrats, they would create a shitshow. nt

[Gothmog]

19. Who is surprised by this?

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[NYMinute]

21. He will lose independents by a wider margin if he does that nt

[Blue_true]

24. I agree. Our nominee must insist upon either a debate or a town hall.

If our nominee can't take maximum advantage of that situation, we would have nominated the wrong person.

[bearsfootball516]

42. Have to agree. He's worried about being destroyed by his opponent.

But the optics of refusing to debate at all look really, really bad and wouldn't sit well with the moderate/swing voters he needs.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

25. His refusal to engage in debate would speak VOLUMES about his cowardice.

If he takes this path, the dems should be ALL OVER this.

[fleabiscuit]

26. Get Alec Baldwin to stand in for him. nt

[sheshe2]

32. Bwahahaha

Perfect!

[Turbineguy]

27. He doesn't need to debate anybody.

It's a waste of effort. He'll cheat in the election. Much more natural for him.

[VarryOn]

28. Boris Johnson skipped one debate...

And maybe another one or two. So...there is a precedent, albeit in the UK. I can totally see Trump seeing that and thinking it was a great idea.

[democratisphere]

29. Crimes have been committed.

No questions, please!

[sweetloukillbot]

30. He'll show if he can pull some stunt like he did w/ Clinton's accusers

Otherwise he'll skip them.

[NCjack]

31. He is scared of the debate stage. In 2016 campaign, he gave us rosey lies.

Now, he has a record that can be effectively attacked. So, he will hide.

[zaj]

33. "because of his misgivings" is just garbage proaganda...

Because he's an entitled, authoritarian lunitic...

[redstateblues]

34. Big fucking surprises

[LittleGirl]

35. He's already got the election

in the bag with putin managing the election votes. Why show up?

[PatrickforO]

37. Of course he's going to refuse to debate.

Absolutely no surprise there. He knows he'd never hold a candle to any of the Democrats, particularly, dare I say?...my candidate. She'd work circles around him.

[duforsure]

41. The Dems should use a stand in for trump

Repeating stupid things he's said, and make him look like the fool he is.

[Thunderbeast]

43. Not interested in a fair fight.