The Washington Examiner’s Byron York doubted that President Joe Biden would follow through with his nod to being open to debating former President Donald Trump later this year.
Biden made the statement during an interview with commentator Howard Stern, in which he said he would be “happy to debate” Trump, the presumptive 2024 presidential nominee for the Republican Party. York, however, predicted that such a debate is “very unlikely” and that Biden had just “blurted this out” during the interview.
“You could not have had a more fawning, flattering, positive, easy interview, and Biden did get through it, but the idea of getting through an actual debate?” York questioned on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle. “Clearly, his team doesn’t want that. They wouldn’t even do a Super Bowl interview! So this quick little Biden statement on Howard Stern, I don’t think is going to end up being the position of the campaign.”
Matt Towery, the chairman of InsiderAdvantage, similarly predicted a lack of debates between Biden and Trump, stating that the Biden campaign will “find an excuse” not to have the president debate Trump. Towery pointed to Trump’s various legal battles that he is facing while campaigning for president, arguing that Biden’s campaign could object to a debate with Trump if the former president is convicted.
Despite predicting there will be no debate between Biden and Trump, York noted that voters have experience with both candidates as president. Because of this, York argued that voters can compare how their lives were under the leadership of Trump and Biden.
York referenced recent polling data in which 55% of recipients viewed Trump’s presidency as a success while 44% viewed it as a failure. Comparatively, 61% of recipients view Biden’s presidency as a failure, and 39% see it as a success.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Trump has stated he is ready to debate Biden “ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE.” However, the former president did not participate in any of the debates for the Republican primary, possibly giving Biden leeway not to debate Trump ahead of the election.
The first presidential debate is scheduled to take place on Sept. 16 at Texas State University.