Although President Joe Biden is technically facing two Democratic challengers in his bid to win a second term in the White House, the Democratic National Committee is doing its best to protect his path to the nomination by ensuring that there will be no primary debates.
Even some in Biden’s party have criticized the decision, including former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, who also co-chaired the 2020 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders.
The DNC refusing to hold a single primary debate is undemocratic and robs the voters of choice.
No one who feels confident in their record and/or ideas would hesitate to stand on them.
The DNC should hold debates.
This is supposed to be a democratic process.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) April 24, 2023
“It’s simple — I believe in democracy, therefore I believe in debates,” Turner declared. “The DNC, RNC, and every third party should hold that same belief in a democracy. This isn’t a radical idea.”
With Biden’s party nomination all but secured at this point, some pundits on the right are already starting to wonder whether he will even agree to debate the eventual GOP nominee ahead of next year’s general election.
The topic came up during a recent panel discussion on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle.”
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer argued that former President Donald Trump’s decision to skip Wednesday’s Republican primary debate could give Biden the cover he needs to evade a debate next year. “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy offered a similar assessment of Trump’s decision during a segment of that show on Monday.
“That’s fascinating,” host Laura Ingraham said in response to Fleischer. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
Ingraham then turned her attention to former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, asking whether she believes Biden will ultimately agree to a debate with his Republican challenger.
“No, he won’t,” Conway predicted. “They won’t let him out there. They hardly let him out there at all. We don’t see much of him.”
She went further by suggesting that there might not be a vice-presidential debate either.
“Maybe that also means Kamala doesn’t have to debate, which they would want to avoid also because she battles the teleprompter everyday and the teleprompter wins,” Conway concluded. “She doesn’t put in the work. I can’t imagine her debating another human being on policy and substance and her record, but that would be terrible. I believe debates are part of the democratic process. We the people deserve to see the voters debate each other free of charge.”
Trump cited his record and sizable lead in the polls as reasons for skipping the first GOP debate, opting instead for an interview with former Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson.
“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” he wrote in a Truth Social post, adding in all caps: “I will therefore not be doing the debates!”
