Conway: Biden Will Never Debate Again
Former President Donald Trump aide Kellyanne Conway dropped a political bombshell Tuesday night, predicting that Joe Biden is unlikely to debate the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Conway argued, “No he won’t. They won’t let him out there. They hardly let him out there at all.”
This sentiment isn’t merely conservative talk-show fodder; it captures the essence of a growing concern among Republicans and independent voters. President Biden, the oldest sitting president in U.S. history at 80, is being treated with kid gloves by his party and the compliant corporate media.
His guarded public presence has not gone unnoticed. According to a New York Times analysis, he has held the fewest press conferences of any president in the last 40 years. That strategy, the administration says, is intentional. Communications Director Ben LaBolt told the Times, “Our ultimate goal is to reach the American people wherever and however they consume media, and that’s not just through the briefing room.”
Despite Biden’s age and apparent lack of media engagement, President Trump, only a few years younger, seems eager to return to the debate stage. Trump, who’s leading the Republican primary polls, was mentioned by the Biden campaign’s communications director, Michael Tyler, who offered an evasive statement: “To be honest with you, we haven’t really had any substantive conversations about that yet.”
It’s not just Biden who might be sidestepping debates. Vice President Kamala Harris is also unlikely to engage with her Republican counterpart, said Conway, citing her inability to go off-script as a significant impediment. “She battles the teleprompter every day, and the teleprompter wins. She doesn’t put in the work.”
Debates have been a staple of American democracy, a forum where candidates make their cases directly to the voters. It’s a venue where the electorate expects to evaluate candidates on their ability to think on their feet, handle pressure, and articulate a vision for the nation. The idea that Biden, and possibly Harris, might avoid such an integral part of the democratic process raises valid concerns. It seems that the Democratic Party is wary of exposing its leaders to situations that require spontaneity and unscripted responses.
A poll in June indicated that nearly half of independent voters see Biden’s age as having a “severe effect” on their support for him. With this looming in the background, dodging debates is a convenient way to circumvent uncomfortable conversations about Biden’s fitness for office.
The American people deserve an open debate to scrutinize the candidates vying for the highest offices in the land. If Kellyanne Conway’s prediction holds, the Democrats’ avoidance of the debate stage might be interpreted as an admission of sorts: they aren’t entirely convinced that their candidates can withstand the scrutiny. And in an era marked by increasing polarization, skipping debates is a disservice to an electorate already deeply skeptical of the political process.
