On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Biden Campaign Co-Chair Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) stated that he “wouldn’t encourage” President Joe Biden to debate 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, if “Trump wants to see Joe Biden in primetime, he should tune in and watch tonight.” And that “the American people need to make up their own minds based on what difference Joe Biden has made in their lives.”
Host Jake Tapper asked, “Former President Trump is saying that he wants to debate Joe Biden anytime, anywhere, any place. Is that a good idea? Do you think, if it’s — if this is a don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative campaign, shouldn’t President Biden –?”
Coons cut in to answer, “Well, look, if Donald Trump wants to see Joe Biden in primetime, he should tune in and watch tonight. I was in the room for the debate in Cleveland that Chris Wallace tried to moderate, and it was chaotic, at best. Donald Trump just busted through every possible rule or regulation of decency or decorum or following any of the directives of the moderator. I wouldn’t encourage it, but I don’t think the campaign or the President has made a decision yet. I just think that, frankly, the American people need to make up their own minds based on what difference Joe Biden has made in their lives.”
Tapper then asked, “Are you saying that President Biden should not debate former President Trump?”
Coons responded, “I think that’s up to him, and I think he and the campaign will make a decision later in the year.”
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