After her verbal lashing courtesy of Mumford & Sons banjo player Winston Marshall in April at Oxford, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is not excited about President Joe Biden’s decision to debate former President Donald Trump before the two square off in November.
In an interview with CNN‘s Manu Raju posted to X on Wednesday, Pelosi explained her disapproval of Biden’s choice to debate.
“I myself would never recommend going on stage with Donald Trump, but the president has decided that’s what he wants to do,” Pelosi began before proceeding to offer her own method for how CNN should spotlight the two candidates, albeit in a format where they aren’t in the same room.
“I think you all [CNN] should have separate townhall meetings with them. Let them, challenge them with questions about the future, and let the public make its decision.”
Nancy Pelosi on Biden-Trump debates: ‘I myself would never recommend going on stage with Donald Trump.’ pic.twitter.com/EWBBhLIlfl
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 15, 2024
Trending:
You couldn’t blame Pelosi for her cynicism for Democrats taking the debate stage.
Just last month, Pelosi debated Marshall at Oxford University where she took the stance that “populism is a threat to democracy” and Marshall argued the contrary.
Will the debates hurt Biden’s election chances?
Although her side received a favorable vote of 177-68, it was Marshall who made the most memorable quotes while she appeared to babble with the usual left-wing rhetoric.
Marshall told the audience, “Mainstream media elites are part of a class who don’t just disdain populism, they disdain the people,” while Pelosi countered, that populism is “the misrepresentation of people who exploit the populist attitude of ‘I want to have my say’ and then use it to get elected and then hurt those people the most.”
Such dialogues prove that Pelosi is not equipped to handle discussions of political theory, and that the Democrats don’t really have much ground to stand on when it comes to views on democracy — considering their suppression of it.
That all being said, you can see why Pelosi would not be elated with Biden’s choice of taking the debate stage.
Putting her recent experience aside, there are two more explanations for her apprehension towards Biden’s decision.
Obviously, the president is in a state of severe cognitive decline.
He did not handle his debates with Trump in 2020 well. Four years later, his state continues to worsen as countless examples show a man who repeats easily disproven lies, slurs his words together, wanders around aimlessly, and appears lost, tired, and totally incapable of the nation’s highest office.
While even sympathetic voices would not accuse Trump of being the most eloquent speaker, his energy is even higher now for the executive officer than it was in his first re-election bid.
Trump has plenty to attack Biden for during the last four years, and the president will surely struggle to keep pace.
This leads to the other reason why Pelosi does not want a Biden-Trump debate.
Biden’s presidential record has been absolutely abysmal by every measure. The border crisis continues while rampant inflation and reckless spending hamstring the American voter. The list of Biden’s problems — the problems the Democratic party must juggle before November — seem endless.
If Democrats hope to hold their own in November, Biden must not debate. The American people are already familiar with his many shortcomings in office, but Biden trying to defend that record is only going to salt the wound.
Pelosi knows this and couldn’t be more worried about Biden’s decision.
