I have to admit it. I've been amused by the plethora of handwringing comments from "our side" about Donald Trump jumping at the chance to debate Joe Biden on CNN in June, the first of two agreed-upon presidential debates.
"What was he thinking?" some wonder incredulously.
"Doesn't he know the CNN (AKA, laughably: 'The Most Respected Name in News') debate will be three against one, with Trump not only squaring off against infirm Biden, but also against announced 'moderators' Jake Tapper and Dana Bash," others pontificate.
What if he does?
Meaning, what if Trump not only realizes exactly what's going to happen on that debate stage in June, but also that he wants it to happen?
Crazy, on Trump's part?
On the other hand, it might be a brilliant calculation on the former president's part. After all, the more the left has thrown the proverbial political kitchen sink at Trump, the more his political base has coalesced around the 45th president.
Jeffrey Lord, former White House political director in the Reagan White House, agrees.
The CNN selection — with the announcement of moderators as CNN’s own Jake Tapper and Dana Bash — raises a curious question. That would be: Is the selection of CNN a “Trump Trap”? A trap set by the former president himself? To start, consider the lay of the political land right now.
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The former president has become the very symbol of a President being targeted by the American political and legal Establishment. And the attacks on him have backfired and backfired big time, politically speaking.
Along with the attacks from the political and legal establishments, so too, famously, has the liberal “mainstream” media targeted Trump. That would decidedly include CNN. And, safe to say, the American people get it and have reacted with a decidedly negative view.
CNN’s ratings have not been good. Leading, among other things, to this barb from the Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon, "Biden and Trump will meet on June 27 on CNN, and one of Biden's debate conditions was not having an audience, so that explains why it's on CNN."
So this takes us back to the question:
Does Donald Trump not only know he won't be treated fairly by Tapper and Bash, but he's also counting on it?
My political gut tells me hell yes he does— and he is.
Assuming all of the above is true, for argument's sake, what might have initially been perceived by Trump supporters as "Why the hell would he agree to the CNN debate?" might very well have been a genius calculation by Team Trump from the beginning.
Lord summed it up, this way:
Which means? This debate just may turn out to be a well-planned — by the former President — “Trump Trap.” Snaring CNN’s anti-Trump moderators and letting them, in full view of millions of Americans, just be their anti-Trump selves. Only adding to the backfire of support for Trump that is already on display.
Smart, on Trump's part, if so? You betcha.
Related:
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Donald Trump's List of Debate Demands (At Least It Should Be)
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