- Trump skipped the Republican primary debates this year
- Biden camp said they ‘assume’ Trump will be in Atlanta tonight
President Joe Biden’s campaign has teased the possibility that Donald Trump will not show up for tonight’s high-stakes presidential debate, with millions set to watch their scheduled clash — prompting angry opposition from Trump and his camp.
“Look, I think the Trump team is playing the games that we’ve always seen them play, right? They like to use debates as an entertainment process. They like to complain about debates. Sometimes they skip debates,” Biden’s campaign manager Michael Tyler told CNN, which is hosting the debate.
“The president will be there tonight. We still expect Donald Trump to be there,” he said. saidplanting the seed of doubt again.
Trump’s campaign immediately dismissed the idea when contacted by DailyMail.com.
“Of course” he will show up, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded. “The Biden campaign just proved how desperate they are. Michael Tyler should be fired for his incompetence,” he said.
Trump raged on his Truth Social site over Tyler’s claim: “JOE BIDEN IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY AND A THREAT TO THE SURVIVAL AND EXISTENCE OF OUR COUNTRY ITSELF!!!”
“Biden’s policies are a NIGHTMARE FOR WOMEN when it comes to the border and immigration!” he wrote, after Tyler accused him of using “games” to distract from issues in the race.
Tyler said Biden wanted to talk about “the threat that Donald Trump poses to our democracy, which is certainly on display on January 6th, but every day on the sidewalk at his MAGA rallies, where he promises to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists. That, again, the vast majority of the American people do not agree with.”
Trump also complained about Tyler going on TV. “WHY IS FOXNEWS PUTTING SO MANY BIDEN PEOPLE ON THE STOCK MARKET LIKE BIDEN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR MICHAEL TYLER WHO SPREAD LIES WITH VERY LITTLE OPPOSITION?” Trump wrote in another post in all caps. “GREAT!!!”
Michael Tyler, Biden’s campaign communications director, suggested that Donald Trump might not show up for tonight’s debate
By all accounts, Trump will be in Atlanta for the game tonight. His campaign has released arrival information for his private Boeing 757, which he calls “Trump Force One.”
Tryler said Trump will treat the debate as a “game,” after previous contests in which he repeatedly interrupted Biden. In 2020, he brought along an associate of Hunter Biden. In 2016, he brought Clinton rapists to the debate.
“But listen, the fact is they play these games because they know the issues that matter. Most Americans, Donald Trump is a loser, right?” he said — seemingly to spite Trump.
Trump skipped all Republican primary debates, a decision that shielded him from direct confrontation with critics. The move also had the effect of narrowing down Republican rivals, though some former contenders made it onto his shortlist for vice president.
He also refused to participate in a Zoom debate with Biden in 2020 after the second debate had to be canceled when Trump tested positive for COVID-19.
“Of course” Trump will be there, his campaign responded
Biden’s campaign pushed for an early debate, in a move that could allow them to reset the race. Trump’s camp wanted the chance to face the sitting president, 81, on stage
Trump’s team seized the opportunity to get on the same stage as Biden, 81, when he agreed, in a negotiation that played out both publicly and privately and took the debates away from a decades-long relationship with a bipartisan presidential debate commission.
Tyler dodged CNN’s Kate Bolduan’s question about whether Biden should “win” the debate against the 78-year-old Trump. A new New York Times/Siena College poll showed him trailing by four points nationally.
“The president is ready. The president is excited. The president knows all he has to do is present the fundamental choice in this election to the American people.” He said Biden would fight for the American people on stage and Trump would “fight for himself.”