Chuck Todd Says Biden Team ‘Went Out of Their Way’ to Craft Debate Environment That Helps Trump ‘Seem Presidential’
NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd accused President Joe Biden’s team of agreeing to a debate forum that will help former President Donald Trump seem “more presidential.”
Todd joined Chris Jansing on MSNBC on Wednesday ahead of CNN’s Thursday debate, and the political analyst questioned Biden’s strategy going into the matchup.
“They so want to have a different experience than the last debate they had with him… and ironically it’s the single best debate Biden had,” Todd said, referring to Trump and Biden’s debate in Oct. 2020.
The former Meet the Press moderator argued the last debate between Biden and Trump “cemented” the former’s lead.
Trump, he continued, needs an “instant poll,” meaning a live audience for reactions, when he speaks. The lack of an audience at Thursday’s debate will make him only seem “more presidential,” according to Todd.
The 90-minute debate will be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and have no audience. Each candidate will also have their microphones cut when not speaking to avoid interruptions. Todd called the given rules a “real risk” for the president.
“Now here’s the Biden campaign trying to come up with a set of rules to make sure Trump seems more presentable?” Todd said. “I have to say when you sort of look at their motivation here and given the experience they had four years ago, it’s a head scratcher to me that they went so out of their way to try to create an environment that will make Trump seem more presidential.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
