Biden’s handlers will be panicking that 81 year-old president finally agreed to debate with Trump, political analysts say, over fears 45th president will make mincemeat of him

Political analysts say Joe Biden’s handlers will panic after the 81-year-old president agreed to debate Donald Trump ahead of November’s presidential election in what appeared to be an unplanned comment.

During a softball interview with Howard Stern on Friday morning, Biden said he is “thrilled” to take the stage to debate his 77-year-old rival.

It quickly led to several Republican stories mocking Biden’s decision as being beyond his “handler’s control.”

‘Crooked Joe Biden says he ‘loves debating’ President Trump. His handlers must be furious,” tweeted RNC Research, an account run by the Republican National Committee.

“Biden weakly replies to Howard Stern that he will debate Trump, HA!” Fox News host Jeanine Pirro wrote. “I don’t think his aides could stop Biden before he answered.”

The White House and the Biden-Harris campaign had danced around questions about the debate for months without ever providing a clear answer.

But when Stern asked him about it, Biden seemed to confirm that he would indeed take on Trump.

“I don’t know if you’re going to debate your opponent,” Stern asked.

“I’m somewhere,” Biden said. ‘I do not know when. I am happy to debate him,” he replied.

Trump responded quickly, saying he was willing to debate “corrupt Joe Biden… ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, EVERYWHERE.”

The debates have been a feature of every presidential general election campaign since 1976.

Other political commentators relished the idea that Biden’s staffers were squirming over the idea of ​​any sort of head-to-head confrontation that could expose a Biden weakness.

“’NOOOOO’ – Joe Biden Staffers, after hearing Biden tell Howard Stern he will debate Trump,” conservative Kevin Dalton joked.

‘Idiot Joe Biden announced his willingness to debate Trump on Howard Stern’s radio show! Bring it on!civil rights attorney Leo Terrell wrote.

Trump responded in a lengthy post on his Truth Social account.

‘LETTER TO JOE: Dear Joe, now that you’ve committed to a debate on the now-dying Howard Stern Show, let’s set it up right now. I’m ready to go wherever you are. We could do it in DC, even point out the White House, or in New York when your radical left fascists are done with the election interference against your political opponent, I… let’s get the debate going, the American people has the right to know!’

Trump also made a statement after leaving the courtroom Friday afternoon in New York City.

“He can do it whenever he wants, including tonight. I’m ready. Here we are. I invited him to the courthouse,” Trump said.

“I just want to say that I have invited Biden to a debate,” he said outside Manhattan Criminal Court.

‘He can do it whenever he wants, including tonight. Ready, where we are. I invited him to the courthouse,” Trump said, praising a venue he had previously criticized for “freezing” temperatures.

“But we’re prepared to do it Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night or Friday night on national television. We are ready. Just tell me where,” he said.

“We’ll do it in the White House, which would actually be very comfortable!” he joked.

A verbal sparring could be a useful opportunity for both Trump and Biden to show staying power.

Biden in particular is still haunted by Trump’s old “Sleepy Joe” nickname — and Trump was teased online when he appeared to fall asleep during his criminal trial in New York last week.

Trump has vowed for weeks to take on his Democratic opponent “anywhere, at any time” before millions of Americans cast their ballots in a rematch of the 2020 election.

The two men debated twice during the 2020 general election — a campaign year significantly curtailed by COVID-19 restrictions — and Biden was particularly irritated by Trump’s antics in the chaotic first debate that year.

“Will you shut up man!” Biden told Trump at one point during the first debate.

Later on Friday, Trump responded to Biden’s new public willingness to debate by saying “everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it.”

Biden himself was previously vague, saying in March that whether he debates Trump “depends on his behavior.”

The Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced the dates and locations for the three general election debates between the presidential candidates: September 16 in San Marcos, Texas; October 1 in Petersburg, Virginia; and Oct. 9 in Salt Lake City.

A dozen news organizations wrote to both Biden and Trump campaigns, urging both candidates to participate in the debates.