In August 2020, CNN reported that there was an “imaginary controversy” that suggested that then-candidate Joe Biden was afraid to debate then-President Donald Trump.
There were, of course, reports at the time that Biden mainly stayed ‘locked away’ in his basement bunker, due as much to his fear of Trump’s energy and wit onstage as he was of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier that year, Trump claimed Biden was too scared to debate him.
Yet, the two men did famously debate – twice. However, the first time it was hardly a debate, and one could argue that shouting matches between sports rivals have had more civility. Biden took his fair of low shots, but Trump spoke over Biden but also down to the audience. At one point, Biden even responded, “Will you shut up, man? This is so unpresidential.”
The situation was so bad, in fact, that moderator Chris Wallace was forced to tell Trump, “I think the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.”
Most in the media, as well as those surveyed, agreed that Biden actually won the debate – and it may have even helped his victory on Election Day.
The second of a planned three debates was scuttled after Trump was hospitalized for Covid, but in their then-second meet-up, both men were more restrained and used more respectful tones.
Trump even came off as a more effective debater, and perhaps had he taken a more civil approach in the earlier debate, the outcome of the 2020 election may have been different.
Is Joe Biden Scared Now?
There has been speculation that there may be no debates in 2024 – even as many are now expecting a rematch between Biden and Trump. Some pundits have suggested Biden is afraid to debate owing to the fact that Trump fared so well in the second of their debates in 2020. Others point to the fact that as President Biden has held few press conferences, and avoids taking questions from the media.
Biden is, of course, a self-confessed “gaffe machine,” while there continue to be questions over his mental acuity.
It is easy to see why some are now questioning if Biden is unwilling to debate Trump over such fears. Yet, the truth is that any such debate between Trump and Biden won’t come for at least 15 or 16 months.
Neither Trump nor Biden is actually their respective party’s nominee and can’t be until their respective party’s 2024 conventions. There has never been a case where those seeking the nomination have set out to debate a potential challenger in the general election.
Instead, there are usually debates among the various contenders seeking their party’s nomination. In 2020, Trump didn’t engage in such debates as he ran unopposed. Even as Biden isn’t exactly running unopposed this time around – as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced he’s running against Biden, few are taking that campaign seriously at this point.
Yet, it was also reported last week that Trump has said he won’t take part in any Republican primary debates as he is so far ahead in the polls. As Vox.com reported, “That might come as somewhat of a relief to Trump’s challengers, given how he managed to eviscerate his Republican opponents in 2016 on the debate stage by unleashing petty insults that ultimately stuck.”
In other words, neither Trump nor Joe Biden will likely engage in debates for a while.
It is possible that if any Republican challenger(s) appears to gain steam, Trump will take to the stage to pick them off as he did in the 2016 election cycle. Yet, it is far too premature to debate whether Biden will engage in debates with Trump almost a year and a half from now.
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Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
