President Joe Biden finally agreed to debate former President Donald Trump, under several conditions, leaving several Democrats uneasy about the decision.
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is skeptical that a debate between the two presidential candidates will actually make it to the stage, admitting that things feel “chaotic” within the Biden Administration.
“I’m still a skeptic, a little bit," Psaki said during an interview with Pod Save America. “Trump could certainly say, ‘I never agreed to those terms in the letter,’ and he probably will. That's how this all falls apart."
The “terms” Psaki refers to, made by the Biden-Harris campaign, include hosting the debate inside a TV studio with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit is up. The president has also requested for there to be no audience during the debate.
However, she said it was a “smart move” for Biden’s team to agree to debate with conditions.
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The former Biden staffer also said that Biden is under a lot of pressure from voters to debate Trump and that certain media narratives have forced him to agree to one.
Psaki claimed that if Biden had said he was "considering" a debate, it would have triggered the press to lean into their "Sleepy Joe" narratives about his age and mental capabilities.
She isn’t the only Democrat to doubt a pending Biden-Trump debate.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she would never have “recommended” Biden to debate Trump, expressing concerns about the GOP hopeful’s past debate etiquette.
“I think he was stalking Hillary Clinton, he wasn’t professional, he wasn’t presidential, he wasn’t meeting the dignity of the office,” Pelosi said as to why Biden shouldn’t debate Trump— referring to when the former president debated Clinton in 2016.
Instead, Pelosi suggested that each candidate should hold separate town hall meetings rather than be on the same stage as one another.
“I think you all should have separate town hall meetings with them, and let them, challenge them with questions about the future, and let the public make its decision,” she said.
