Donald Trump announced on Monday that he wants to debate President Biden “right now” — despite boycotting all Republican primary debates.
While admonishing Biden for not having the mental ability to stand up to him, Trump also seemed to question whether the commander-in-chief would run for the White House again.
“He can’t do it, because he can’t talk. He can’t do anything. He ruined our country. And I don’t think he’s going to run — I don’t know if it’s a donor or not. Maybe his family, maybe something,” the former president said on “The Dan Bongino Show.”
“I want to debate him now because we have to debate for the good of the country,” added Trump.
Biden later laughed off Trump’s incitement.
“If I were him, I would also want to debate with me. He has nothing else to do,” the president told reporters at Boba Tea in Las Vegas.
Trump’s last Republican rival, former US ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s team, blasted Trump for focusing on Biden and ignoring him.
Donald Trump can barely contain his giddiness at the prospect of running against President Biden. AP
“We are very pleased to see that Donald Trump finally acknowledges the importance of debate,” Haley’s national spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement.
“Now is the time for Trump to get ready and agree to a debate with Nikki Haley. Nikki is ready to put her conservative record and vision for a strong and proud America against Trump’s campaign of chaos and revenge.”
Trump has previously argued that it’s not worth his time fending off a low-polling GOP rival on the debate stage.
Nikki Haley has asked Donald Trump to stay out of the GOP primary debate. AFP via Getty Images
Back in the 2020 election cycle, Trump and Biden ran twice. One of the debates was canceled because Trump contracted COVID-19.
After the general election debate, the Republican National Committee lashed out at the Commission on Presidential Debates, which orchestrated the verbal spat that spanned more than three decades.
The RNC and Trump complained about the moderators and accused them of bias. The RNC further claimed that the commission refused to make the reforms it sought.
Complicating matters a bit for Trump is the fact that the RNC has threatened to bar candidates from participating in CPD-sponsored debates.
Joe Biden laughs at Donald Trump’s challenge. Reuters
Last year, the commission released its dates for three general election debates. Early polls suggested that environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy might meet the criteria to make the stage.
Trump has previously mused about a showdown with Biden on the debate stage and voiced his concerns about CPD.
“Oh, will I look forward to it. How about 10 debates” he quipped in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in December.
Donald Trump has signaled that he may support a change to leadership at the Republican National Committee. AP
“They’re corrupt,” he told Hewitt at the time about CPD. “They are bad. With that, I will do 20 debates even if it is organized by them…I will do debates every night with this man.”
Despite the RNC’s grudges with the CPD, Trump will exert a powerful influence over the organization if he wins the Republican party to be its standard bearer.
He recently proposed parting ways with chairman Ronna McDaniel amid lackluster fundraising numbers.
“I thought he did his best when he ran Michigan for me. I thought he was OK at first at the RNC. I would say, right now, there’s probably going to be some changes made,” Trump told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
