Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't think Biden should debate Trump. Does this show her lack of confidence in his mental faculties?
Asked by
Aster (
20028
)
August 28th, 2020
I was waiting for this to happen. Have you heard what she said? I can’t blame her; she has seen his video saying, “Nathaniel Nathaniel Nathaniel.” Or do you think his mental status has absoutely nothing to do with her trying to prevent the debate?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
66 Answers
”...his mental faculties?” Trump’s, not Biden’s.
Can you share that video @Aster?
Oh, @Aster, do spend a minute to research this before you make these statements.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she doesn’t think there should be presidential debates this year, arguing Democrat Joe Biden shouldn’t “legitimize a conversation” with President Donald Trump.
Pelosi told reporters Thursday she knows she disagrees with Biden on the issue but she believes Trump will “probably act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency” and “belittle what the debates are supposed to be about.”
From this:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-pelosi-says-biden-shouldnt-debate-trump
To me it show the liberals can change the rules at will. Whatever is advantageous for them.
@canidmajor I just heard that whole thing on tv. Had to smile as I was expecting her to panic.
@chyna sorry; saw her say it on tv. Maybe it’s on youtube?
@canidmajor “Trump will “probably act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency!” None of her business and I say let them debate so Americans can see for themselves Trump acting ‘in a way that is beneath the dignity etc etc’ and let that allow Biden to win in a landslide ! lol
I understand that you think he’s handsome and want to kiss him, but really, it is not at all presidential to behave the way he did during the 2016 debates, the gravity of these circumstances should dictate that the candidates behave with a certain professional decorum.
But hey, you know what you like.
I’m out.
@canidmajor oh, yes he “misbehaved” and all Presidential debates should reflect complete decorum, kindness, compassion and understanding of the others’ point of view . You know, like all those sweeet high school debates. lol. I liked Nan’s decorum when she ripped up the pages of his speech. Dignity like that should be respected !
Ok so the Nathaniel thing is just a bullshit parody that someone made up. I’m not sure how @aster thinks that’s would stop Biden from debating with trump.
The clip I saw clearly was against Trumps foreseen behavior and nothing to do with Biden. But many believe that’s the Dem spin to cover Biden not participating.
Let them both go free without handlers, geesh.
Pelosi totally undercut Biden here. Just about everyone is thinking that she knows something we don’t about Biden’s mental acuity. Biden apparently wants to debate, so even if Biden does well, people are going to be hyper-focused on Biden’s level of cognition. This can only hurt him. I can only think of 2 explanations: (1) Pelosi is an idiot, and/or (2) she wanted to hurt Biden’s chances for some reason that isn’t obvious.
^^^^^^ Pelosi would want to hurt Biden’s chances? No way.
@Aster Trump raises a lot of money for Democrats (every time Trump says something crazy, the Dems send out a fundraising email). With Biden in charge, the Dems would be expected to actually lead and put forth policies for votes. It’s much easier to just vote no on things, there are fewer political risks when your party is in the minority.
Remember, the DNC’s job is to prevent people like Bernie and AOC, beating Republicans is always secondary to that mission.
@gorillapaws That might be true to a very slight percentage but not enough to be noteworthy.
@kritiper “That might be true…”
What part are you referring to? The fundraising?
@chyna I can’t believe she thinks it’s real! That was my point. I think this question is just sad.
Personally, I think she’s just playing with Trump’s mind.
The Dems are keeping Joe out of actual live discussions. There is a good reason this happens. He is incapable of responding coherently to simple, softball questions. Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want Biden on a live stage with President Trump because she knows how that ends. Biden will drift off at random points and Trump will needle him for it. Joe will likely get angry and challenge him to a fight. Yeah…that wouldn’t end well for the Dems. It’s bad enough when he goes nutso on prescripted, prepracticed interviews. Yes, she tries to say that Trump will act in a way beneath the stature of the Presidency. But think about it for a moment. If that is the case, then she should be rooting for them to debate. If she truly believes Trump will act like a child, it would be broadcast to the entire world and it would be good for the Dems, right? So that is just bullshit as an excuse. Joe Biden cannot mentally attend to basic questions on interviews where he has already been given the questions and answers.
It has nothing to do with any doubt of Biden’s abilities. It’s simply the smart thing to do. Since the fool’s career amounts to little more than 3 years of showing the world his unwiped ass, no good can accrue to anyone sharing his stage. Why should Biden participate in an event where his antagonist is guaranteed to degrade and embarrass his country?
@stanleybmanly ”Why should Biden participate in an event where his antagonist is guaranteed to degrade and embarrass his country?”
Biden is in a tough spot. By not debating, that’s going to add a lot of fuel to the fire of him suffering from dementia. If he does debate Trump, it’s likely that Trump will make Biden look foolish. I guess the best Biden could hope for is to break even in a debate. He’s weak, and the Dems did each other no favors by handling each other with kids gloves in the primary (Bernie is guilty of this too). The primary is supposed to put forth the strongest fighter for your side, and that doesn’t happen when everyone pats each other on the back.
Listen. There is no task that I can imagine as readily achievable as the open raucous belittlement of the fool. Anyone granted even the whiff of a sense of humor understands that for purposes of ridicule, there is no greater gift than Donald Trump. In fact, it is of only if Biden enters the ring with any idea of treating Trump with respect, that he will be adjudged as weak. What our conservative friends are saying here is that unlike Trump, Biden can’t dish it out. The mistake most common to those involved in debating Trump in the past has been the assumption that the back and forth will be pertinent and actually about issues. Anyone debating Trump need merely emphasize and demonstrate what he DOESN’T know. Ask him why he can’t spell Yosemite or name the justices on the Supreme Court. Where are his tax returns? How many hookers has he bribed? Biden only needs a list of Trump’s “deplorables”, and God knows that is a list suitable for hours of insults—every one of them true. That list and some stand up coaching from a few comedy writers and Biden should mop the floor with the fool. But the trouble is this: Trump all by himself has disgraced the office of President beyond any limits previously imagined. Why should Biden participate in furthering the gutterization of the job. After all, as things now stand, there actually is no debate as to which of the 2 is the decent AND honorable man.
Biden said that he is going to be doing fact checking during the debate. He can start by going through all of the many lies that Trump has made and coming up with the documentation that shows the evidence to the contrary. It is an interesting approach.
Let’s take Joe’s mental state out of the equation for a moment. If it were a real, honest, fair debate, both candidates would be asked questions about the economy, immigration, the civil unrest, the pandemic, etc. And by real, honest and fair is that the candidates are asked tough questions for which they have no previous knowledge and the moderators don’t help either side. I mean, after all, if you are POTUS, you don’t get handed all the questions and problems you might encounter ahead of time and have time to come up with answer before they are asked or have arisen. But given this sort of debate, according to what Joe has talked about previously, his stance on these items would sink him and the Dems. He would tote out all the socialist ideas with ridiculous price tags and great impact on our lives and freedoms and most people would realize how destructive their goals are. That’s why they don’t talk about those things in any detail and only focus on “Hate Trump”. But in a debate of this sort, each candidate would have to be able to articulate and defend their positions against all counter arguments. Joe is not that guy.
@stanleybmanly Sooo…if Trump is so bad, why do you oppose a debate? After all, wouldn’t that put him out there where he could be shown to be as bad as you say? Wouldn’t that benefit Biden and the Dems?
@LostInParadise It would be an interesting approach. Except the key there is you would have to decide what was actually a lie. Of the several “lists of Trump lies” I have seen, most of that list consists of statements about policies the authors don’t like, things they called lies that later came out to be truths, and the like. Look at the video I linked above. Biden goes off on a tangent and starts ranting about Trump being a White Supremacist and never denouncing them and the entire Charlottesville lie the media created long ago and which was debunked equally long ago. He claims Trump never denounced the WS and called them very fine people. Except when you go back to the actual exchange with reporters at the time, he specifically exluded WS and Neo-Nazis from the very fine people comment and, in fact, denounced them several times. So just because the media says something doesn’t make it true. And Joe just proved he couldn’t go out there with any sense of reality to do as you suggest. And by repeating lies about Trump, he sets himself up to looking extremely misinformed and hateful and the public would see even more of the “Hate Trump” goals of the Dems. And that would hurt them even more.
I think they should debate. I imagine they probably will. And trump will make a complete fool of himself, AGAIN, and his base of deplorables will just slobber it right up, like they always do.
I don’t oppose Biden debating Trump. I just believe it isn’t the smart way to deal with the fool. Why debate Trump, when you already have more ammunition than you can possibly use, and Trump falls ever further behind in the polls? Biden need only harp daily on the covid death toll, the wreck of the economy that most certainly will grow ever more dire as a direct result of Trump’s catastrophic bungling mismanagement of the pandemic. This is a dream campaign for Biden. Why even risk an appearance with the fool when Trump’s numbers are already in the toilet, and he is visibly circling the bowl. Let the fool continue to openly lie about every aspect of this unprecedented disaster as the death toll climbs unswervingly toward 300,000. Perhaps the funeral business is the boom to stimulate the economy.
@seawulf575 , There are a number of things that Trump says that are easily verifiable as lies. He says that Biden would try to defund the police, when Biden has quite plainly stated that he is not in favor of defunding, and in fact would like to see extra money given to police for training them to better handle racial tension.
The lies are endless on every topic you can name. Why debate Trump, when you can simply play the recorded lies back verbatim? I mean there are literally thousands of them on any topic you care to pick; from the availability of covid testing through the necessity for eliminating gays in the military. The deluge of lies in Trump’s own voice is phenomenal in scope and should be exploited to the hilt.
But if they debate, can they keep trump from stalking Biden all over the stage like he did Hillary? Especially with social distancing and trump ignoring the rules.
I bet he wouldn’t do that to another man. That was just showing his disdain for women.
If it were me, I’d have them debate via Zoom.
@stanleybmanly ”...In fact, it is of only if Biden enters the ring with any idea of treating Trump with respect, that he will be adjudged as weak…”
That’s the impossible dilemma that Biden faces when debating Trump. If he stoops to Trump’s level and the debate degenerates into a shit-slinging contest, Biden can’t sell himself as being “the guy restoring civility to the White House.” Biden is not going to win a shit-slinging contest against a game show host whose only talents in life are bullying others and ruining things.
Furthermore, Biden’s lack of policy (“nothing will fundamentally change”) means he can’t turn to policy that would excite voters (e.g. Medicare for all, Green New Deal, etc.) as a means of winning over voters. If his entire campaign distill to “vote for me because the other-guy sucks” and then you engage in a shit-slinging contest, you have to REALLY destroy the other guy to win over the undecideds.
But if Biden doesn’t debate Trump, that’s not going to look good at all.
@LostInParadise Trump has lied, absolutely. We all do. But not everything the left calls a lie, is really a lie. And as my link showed, Biden can’t tell the difference between lies made up by the left and actual lies Trump has told.
And, by the way, Biden did actually call for defunding the police in an interview with Ady Barkan. He specifically talked about redirecting funds from police to other things. That definitely fits the definition of defunding.
@stanleybmanly Why would it not be the smartest way to deal with President Trump? After all, he is a fool, is an idiot. All Joe should have to do is get him on stage and pin him to the wall with facts, right?
Once again, I don’t believe Biden faces any dilemma as @gorillapaws sees it in not debating Trump. I agree that a shit slinging fest defeats Biden’s goal of restoring some sense of civil propriety to the office. It might make sense to go toe to toe with the fool were Biden behind in the polls and desperate to catch up. But both the disease and the resulting economy are without any question authentic Trump masterpieces. There is no debate necessary to understand this or appreciate that Trump is in BIG trouble because of it. The galloping death toll and economic misery have nowhere to go but up between now and November, and everyone knows exactly whose ineptitude is responsible. The fool is not going to lie his way around either the deaths or the economic carnage. He owns them both, and Biden need not tangle with the idiot as the fool
goes up in flames. Trump may be desperate for debate or any other circus of noise to distract attention from the rolling catastrophe. Why should Biden accommodate him? So what if you dummies claim Biden fears the fool? Will that lower the death rate or revive the economy by November? Let Trump stew in his own juices. Simply play back his lengthy plethora of duplicitous lies as the bankruptcies spiral out of control and the coffins stack up. Sleepy Joe could, if he chose, nap through this so called campaign and still wake up a winner in the fool’s wrecked country where funerals have replaced baseball as the national pastime.
@stanleybmanly Careful being overconfidant. Biden needs to actually pull out all stops right now. Impress us with something besides ‘not Trump’.
Watch for the “fact checking on the floor”. Could get interesting.
@stanleybmanly again, you are trying to make excuses. You are throwing out only one possible outcome of a debate…a shit slinging contest. The same logic applies as what I have pointed out about lying. If you believe Trump will fall immediately to shit slinging, it would only help Biden. All Joe would have to do is maintain calm and not get sucked in and Trump would look horrible, right? It would definitely benefit Biden. Unless….well…it’s only a guess…you know Biden couldn’t maintain control. In which case he would look bad. But then, you’d be supporting someone that is just as childish as the current POTUS. But a lot of your excuses for not liking Trump would go down the drain since you’d be supporting many of the same things in Biden.
Response moderated (Personal Attack)
@seawulf575 You think I’m making excuses? Read your first sentence from your last answer then tell me how many times you can recall Trump at a microphone when he wasn’t slinging shit. Slinging shit and lying are all he has. And I don’t need an excuse to recommend Biden leave the idiot to make a fool of himself BY HIMSELF. The fact that you are so DESPERATE for a debate—that all by itself is guarantee enough for me that I am right AGAIN.
@stanleybmanly Your argument was that if Biden got into a debate with Trump he would have to resort to shit slinging. ”. I agree that a shit slinging fest defeats Biden’s goal of restoring some sense of civil propriety to the office.” were your exact words. And my point to you was that trying to find excuses for Biden to not debate Trump shows how desperate you are. You are sure Trump would get into shit slinging…I acknowledge your belief in that. But what you didn’t really address is that Biden could easily win the debate by not sinking to that level. So it would definitely be in his best interest to go into a debate and wait for President Trump to start slinging shit so he could show the world the difference in their behaviors. But you are STILL trying to come up with some “blame Trump” reason that Biden shouldn’t debate him. What you fail to realize is that every reason you can come up with is exactly backwards thinking…just like Nancy Pelosi’s thinking. If you claim Trump is going to go negative, then you go positive and you come out on top. If you think Trump is going to lie, you let him and then nail him with facts. There is no “Orange Man Bad” excuse that doesn’t actually lead to something good for Biden. So by throwing them out, you are merely trying to show the world how far you will go to keep Biden from having to face off with Trump. Let me ask you this: Let’s say Biden wins the election. Will he then refuse to interface with other world leaders because they might lie or might sling shit? Do you (and Biden) actually believe that any and all challenges the POTUS faces are prescripted and planned?
I think you should calm down. Here’s the truth of it: Both I and Pelosi believe Biden can whip Trump without a debate. What’s backward about that? If we are correct in our belief, why should Biden cater to the clearly desperate insistence of you conservatives that he degrade himself by appearing with the ogre? My “excuse” amounts to the belief that Biden HAS ALREADY WON ANY DEBATE out there. Why give the fool even the chance of improvement. You clowns scream DEBATE. I say “go climb a fake news tree”.
Do you know how Biden should answer the conservative debate challenge? He should simply announce “I will debate you in a heartbeat, if you will produce your taxes”. THAT would slam the door on it all!
@stanleybmanly I suspect you have more faith in Biden’s chances than just about anyone else on the planet, including Nancy Pelosi. Trump is gaining momentum every day….despite the Covid, despite the MSM media, despite the bogus impeachment. The biased polls (biased in favor of the Dems) have them pretty much in a dead heat. He is looking better now than he did this same time in 2016 against Hillary. How’d that one work out for you? I bet you believed Hillary could whip Trump without a debate as well. The fact is many more people support President Trump than you even want to believe. There are even Democrats that have said in polls they will vote for Trump…up to 10%. He has record support from Blacks and Latinos and even women. Basically, other than the leftist journalism saying Biden is winning, no one else really believes it. And I don’t believe Pelosi believes it either. She knows, as so many others do, that Joe Biden has major issues. The more he is public, the worse he looks. But its quickly hitting the point where if he doesn’t go public, massive numbers of people will draw the conclusion he is dotty and certainly not fit for the office of the POTUS. So keep hoping he doesn’t debate. It hurts him more than you care to admit, though I’m not sure if it would be worse than if he DOES debate.
And if Biden says “show us your taxes”? Do you suppose the fool will tell us about the ongoing 6 year audit? How a peek at the dummy’s college transcripts?
@stanleybmanly The answer to that idiotic demand (show me the taxes) is very simple: What does that have to do with leading the country? Honestly….the debates are supposed to be about the issues: the economy, the social unrest, foreign policy, immigration reform, etc. It has nothing to do with taxes from 10 years ago. But I find it interesting that you are so obsessed with it. And that you would bring up college. Remember when people wanted to see Obama’s college transcripts? You called that a conspiracy theory and was stupid to pursue. But apparently that is only when the POTUS in the discussion is a Democrat, eh?
Showing his taxes would show whether he is a tax cheater. Obviously if the tax department is still reviewing his taxes, there is some kind of issue.
If he cheats on his taxes, what else would he cheat and lie about?
@chyna And having Obama show his college transcripts would have shown whether or not he claimed foreign status. I mean, after all, if he DID, then either he lied to get into college for free or he really was a foreigner. And if he lied about that, what else would he lie and cheat about? Yet you all seem okay with that. Must be the (D), right?
Response moderated (Personal Attack)
Are you saying Obama got into college for free? Do you have evidence for that?
He’s just grasping for straws again.
@LostInParadise No, he sealed his college transcripts. Are you saying Trump cheated on his taxes? Do you have proof of that?
I never heard of college transcripts telling if the student was foreign born or not. I know there is nothing of the kind on my college transcripts.
Given Trump’s financial history, it would be less than shocking if he cheated on his taxes. He has a record of defaulting on loans and not paying contractors. Trump University was a scam, and Trump settled a lawsuit on it rather than have it go to trial.
Sooo…you have no proof. You want me to show proof of something I say, but you can’t show proof about the equal statement you make. But college records DO contain information about foreign status when you apply. They have to show they are diverse!
Okay, point to you. But college records including applications do. And those are all sealed. Done with semantics now?
I graciously accept your concession. I will have to play the lottery to see if my luck continues.
But back to the issue at hand. Biden and Pelosi owe the Trump camp no explanation for refusing a debate beyond “we can beat him without it”. Trump’s performance thus far more or less guarantees additional suicide attempts between now and November. And even if the dummy manages to miraculously avoid out and out front page fkups, the escalating covid death toll and deepening economic downturn should dethrone the moron. And should the Trumpets rag Biden on the issue, there’s always the reminder that the Trump pandemic has rendered debate another in the fool’s series of death rallies. The answer to “debate?” “Remember Herman Cain.”
It wasn’t semantics @seawulf575. You specified college transcripts. Maybe you meant to say “Records” or “Application,” but you didn’t.
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
