OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump stunned the hosts of a podcast that he appeared on when he complimented President Joe Biden.
“I assume he’s gonna be somebody that will be a worthy debater. … I don’t want to underestimate him,” he said when he appeared on an episode of the “All In” podcast, which is hosted by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, and David Friedberg.
“All I can say is this: I watched him with Paul Ryan, and he destroyed Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan with the water, he was chugging water left and right … and he beat Paul Ryan. So, I’m not underestimating him. I’m not underestimating him. It is what it is,” he said.
But in the past, he was not so flattering of the president’s debating skills.
“Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced – He can’t put two sentences together!” he said on his TruthSocial account when he accepted the debate against Biden which will be on CNN.
“I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them,” he said.
Some believe the change in tone is because the bar has been lowered so low for the president that just his not falling asleep would be considered a victory.
And CNN political commentator Van Jones, who worked for the administration of former President Obama, warned that if the president makes a mistake at the debate it could be the end of his presidency.
“This is the entire election, as far as I’m concerned. The entire world will be watching,” he said in an interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta. “If you are a carbon-based life form, you’re going to be watching. If you’ve got a functioning brain stem, you’re going to be watching.”
“Because if Biden goes out there and messes up, it’s game over. If he walks out there, and a week later he’s lower in the polls, it’s panic in the party,” he said. “But if he goes in there and he can handle himself against Donald Trump — a runaway train, a locomotive, a raging bull — then this guy deserves another shot to be president, because that is tough.”
Jones characterized debating against the former president to be a tough task that is not something a normal person could do.
“You couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it,” he said. “If you can stand toe-to-toe with a runaway train like Donald Trump for an hour and a half, you are fit to be president, period, point-blank.”
“This is the whole presidency in a bottle in a week,” he said.
CNN has dropped some new rules for the presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, including the possibility that a third-party candidate could be on stage as well.
Biden appeared to have gotten everything he wanted in the debate, which the former president has agreed to. The June 15 debate will be 90 minutes and have two commercial breaks, during which the candidates will not be allowed to interact with their staff, CNN reported.
“Both candidates agreed to appear at a uniform podium, and their podium positions will be determined by a coin flip,” the network said.
“Microphones will be muted throughout the debate except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak. While no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on the stage, candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
“Some aspects of the debate – including the absence of a studio audience – will be a departure from previous debates. But, as in the past, the moderators “will use all tools at their disposal to enforce timing and ensure a civilized discussion,” according to the network,” it said.
The network added, however, that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s participation in the debate is not impossible, though it’s also not considered likely at this point.
