President Trump unleashed on the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), stating the organization was “stacked with Trump haters” and “very biased.” He also insinuated that he may not even participate in debates sponsored by the group.
Taking to Twitter yesterday, the President wrote, “I look very much forward to debating whoever the lucky person is who stumbles across the finish line in the little watched Do Nothing Democrat Debates. My record is so good on the Economy and all else, including debating, that perhaps I would consider more than 3 debates.”
He continued, “The problem is that the so-called Commission on Presidential Debates is stacked with Trump Haters & Never Trumpers. 3 years ago they were forced to publicly apologize for modulating my microphone in the first debate against Crooked Hillary.”
The microphone incident took place during the September 2016 presidential debate at Hofstra University and Trump’s audio was noticeably lower than Clinton’s. While it was not apparent to television viewers, those in the debate audience could hear a clear difference.
The President then implied he may take an alternative route to presidential debates, and wrote, “As President, the debates are up to me, and there are many options, including doing them directly & avoiding the nasty politics of this very biased Commission. I will make a decision at an appropriate time but in the meantime, the Commission on Presidential Debates is NOT authorized to speak for me (or R’s)!”
The President’s comments come on the heels of a New York Times article which reported that he was considering “sitting out” the 2020 general election debates and was concerned with which media personalities would be chosen to moderate the discussions.
The Times article notes that Trump had “good reason” to be concerned with the debates because while the two candidates were more or less tied going into the first 2016 presidential debate, Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers increased after each of their debates.
