(Headline USA) NBC’s Chuck Todd admitted on Wednesday that President Joe Biden had no choice but to agree to debate former President Donald Trump because he was “losing” November’s election.
The Biden campaign confirmed this week that the 81-year-old would participate in two scheduled debates against Trump, with the first taking place next month on CNN.
While the agreement actually backpedaled on official plans to hold more debate nearer to the election—including the first one at a historically black university—Wednesday’s negotiation marked the firmest commitment from Biden, who had previously hedged on the possibility of debating his GOP rival at all.
Despite the exceedingly favorable conditions Biden insisted upon, Todd acknowledged that the debates were a risk, given the public’s opinions on his age and his frequent gaffes.
“You don’t do this if you’re ahead, obviously,” Todd said. “The eagerness with which Trump accepted, I think the Biden campaign is lucky because I think the Biden campaign really needs this right now.”
A New York Times poll released the day before Biden accepted Trump’s debate challenge showed the president trailing behind Trump in six of the seven major swing states—in some of the states by as much as double digits.
“They are smart to do this because they need to change the direction of the campaign,” Todd explained.
“This campaign as it is going now is losing,” he added. “You have to change the trajectory. You need something different to happen.”
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell agreed with Todd that Biden was acting more like a “challenger” than an incumbent.
Some conservatives cautioned that Trump appeared to be walking into a trap given the hostile territory—with the debates to be aired on notoriously biased networks with hostile moderators and with all of the terms dictated by the Democrats.
Among the list of demands issued by the Biden campaign: no audience, mic cut-offs when each candidate’s allotted time is up and no third-party-candidate participation. Biden’s campaign also limited the number of news outlets that could host the debates.
Regardless, Trump responded to the challenge enthusiastically.
“I’m ready to go,” Trump said. “The dates that they proposed are fine. Anywhere. Anytime. Any place. Let’s see if Joe can make it to the stand-up podium.”
