Nancy Pelosi: Joe Biden Shouldn’t Debate Donald Trump

Adding fuel to the fires of speculation about Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s current mental acuity, Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi today suggested that Biden should not debate President Donald Trump at all. Speaking to the press, she said, “I don’t’ think there should be any debates.”

Pelosi’s opinion, however, ostensibly had nothing to do with Vice President Biden’s famous propensity for gaffes when speaking extemporaneously. She instead blamed President Trump.

“I do not think that the president of the United States has comported himself in a way that anybody has any association with truth, evidence, data and facts. I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States,” she said. 

The Speaker even referred to the 2016 debates between President Trump and Secretary Hillary Clinton.

“Remember when he was stalking Hillary Clinton during the debate,” she said. “Why wouldn’t the press have said go back to your place? Why did they let that happen?” 

The Trump campaign has made it a point to question whether Vice President Biden, at age 77, has the cognitive abilities to perform the duties of the presidency. His gaffes and difficulties answering questions at times over the years have been problematic for him.

For his part, Biden has not shied away from the debates. A short time after Speaker Pelosi’s remarks, Biden responded to her suggestion in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

“No. As long as the commission continues down the straight and narrow as they have, I’m going to debate him,” Biden said, referring to the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has scheduled three debates between Trump and Biden. Those debates are set for September 29 in Cleveland, October 15 in Miami, and October 22 in Nashville. There is also a vice-presidential debate scheduled for October 7 in Salt Lake City.

Biden, by all accounts, performed well with his 24 minute acceptance speech during the Democratic National Convention, which he read from a teleprompter.

Televised presidential debates began with the famous 1960 Kennedy/Nixon debates, but were not repeated until 1976. They have occurred in every presidential election cycle since then.

Photo from C-SPAN

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