It's been almost a year now since then President Joe Biden debated now President Donald Trump on June 27 over at CNN. Immediately after, the alarm was sounded about how the party could no longer hide Biden's failings, as even his fellow Democrats turned against him. The very next morning, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) called on then Vice President Kamala Harris to use the 25th Amendment against Biden. Less than a month later, Biden was forced out of the race by his fellow Democrats and not long after that replaced with Harris. Chuck Todd is now speaking out about how he feels the timing of the debate was quite purposeful in getting Biden to exit when he did. It's certainly a theory that checks out, and one others are subscribing to.
As we covered at the time in May of last year, Biden invited Trump to participate in such a debate, via an awkwardly edited video clip of the then president challenging his predecessor/successor over X. "Well, make my day, pal," Biden declared. From the video to the specific terms set, the Biden team tried to make it seem tricky for Trump, but he quickly agreed.
Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024
Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again.
Well, make my day, pal. pic.twitter.com/AkPmvs2q4u
Since then, there's been fallout for the mainstream media when it comes to all sorts of denials and admissions about how they played a part in covering up for Biden and his decline. Last month, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book was released, "Original Sin," blaming Trump's win on Biden. Tapper co-moderated that June 27 debate last year, and was also himself responsible for covering up for Biden.
Sister Toldjah at our sister site of RedState covered how Todd, formerly of NBC News' "Meet the Press" fits into this. He shared his theory about Biden being set up to fail with that June 27 debate during Thursday's episode of his podcast. A clip of the podcast was shared on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"I will go to by grave believing that the debate was intentional," Todd insisted. He also called out Anita Dunn, who may have been one of the key figures involved in the Biden autopen scandal, and has been called on by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) to provide testimony, as well as Jen O'Malley Dillon, who chaired Harris' 2024 campaign, pointing out that "they will deny it 'til they're blue in the face."
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"They need when the nomination was going to be, and they knew they needed to deal with this with an opportunity to make a change if it was necessary," Todd also shared. The debate took place 131 days before the election, 24 days before Biden dropped out, and 56 days before Harris spoke to accept her nomination at the DNC last August in Chicago.
"Fox & Friends" co-host Ainsley Earhardt reminded that "we all lived through" witnessing Biden's decline, recalling how she wondered "how in the world did [Biden's] inner circle ever think he could serve another four years?! He couldn't even speak! He didn't know what he was talking about."
Speaking about specific moments from that debate, Earhardt also offered that Trump replying to one of Biden's many troubling incidents on the stage with "I don't know what you said, and I don't think you do either" was "the line that stole the debate."
Biden: *mumbles incoherently*
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 28, 2024
TRUMP: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either." pic.twitter.com/uKQXPT4AZc
Co-host Brian Kilmeade offered his own theories, speaking to perhaps Tapper had some proof. "It made no sense to have a June debate. It made no sense, because Trump was in May on trial. We didn't have conventions until July," he pointed out, with Earhardt jumping in to remind "it was the earliest debate ever."
"I agree with Chuck Todd," Kilmeade enthusiastic affirmed, as he stressed how the Biden team did away with the typical debate rules. "The only thing is I kept saying to myself, 'Why does he want it?!' Because there must be a reason, because they always thought that Trump was not a worthy candidate, now he's 'a convicted criminal,'" Kilmeade continued, arguing that the Biden team "could have gotten out of" such debates and argued Trump should not have been in the race. "We would have just moved on," Kilmeade offered. "But instead he demands an early debate and what the result of that would be is they have time to pick another candidate. The polls were terrible," the co-host reminded about a Biden-Trump rematch, where Trump was indeed polling ahead.
Not only did Earhardt bring Dunn back into the conversation, but Kilmeade also referenced Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who was key in forcing Biden out of the race, as well as Mike Donilon, an advisor to Biden.
As Earhardt offered Dunn's claims, which is that she "said they did the debate early because they wanted America to see Donald Trump, they wanted him to receive more scrutiny," Kilmeade insisted that Dunn has "no credibility" and once more stuck by how he agreed with Todd.
🚨 NEW: Chuck Todd says he'll *always* believe Biden's team SABOTAGED him with early 2024 debate.
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) June 20, 2025
"I will go to my grave believing that the debate was intentional." pic.twitter.com/zh5c7f3GSx
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