Unprecedented TV debate: What to expect from Biden and Trump?

As the Biden-Trump debate is approaching, what do you think will be the main message of President Joe Biden and what he wants to achieve by this debate? And what about Donald Trump? Read a few comments. If you enjoy what I do, please support me on Ko-fi! Thank you.

President Joe Biden (L) and ex-President Donald Trump.

Diana Carlin, Professor Emerita of Communication, Saint Louis University

President Biden needs to show the contrast between the Biden administration and Trump’s as he nears the end of 4 years. People’s memories have faded and Trump is being viewed in a more positive light than he might deserve. Biden needs to contrast the economy for each but he also has to acknowledge that some are still hurting and outline a path forward and cite sources such as the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s policies will lead to recession and higher prices. His administration avoided a predicted recession.
He needs to emphasize his initiatives such as the infrastructure bill that was not supported by Republicans and note what it is doing for rural America. 

He needs to make clear that Donald Trump stood in the way of a bipartisan border bill. Republicans are responsible for the border problems since Trump did little to resolve it during his 4 years and then stopped recent legislation for purely political reasons. 

He needs to defend his foreign policy actions and take Republicans and Trump to task on Ukraine calling on the memories of Republican presidents who worked for the defeat of the Soviet Union and spread of democracy. He needs to explain that there is a limit to what a foreign leader can do to control the situation in Gaza, but defend his actions. 
He needs to paint Trump as a threat to personal freedoms and rule of law, especially women’s rights, caring only for the wealthy, and dangerous to foreign policy. He should avoid the felony conviction. 

Trump needs to defend his record in the face of a global pandemic. He needs to be more specific on what his proposed policies will do for the middle and lower classes who are hurt by inflation. He can’t just attack Biden. He has to show how he will be better. He needs to avoid Hunter Biden because that welcomes a contrast by Biden to accepting a verdict and not pardoning. While Biden needs to take the high road on Trump’s legal issues, if Trump goes there with Hunter as he did in 2020, Biden can show a pattern in Trump’s life that is not presidential in character. 

Both have a great deal to lose because this debate will help define the course of the campaign, but they both have a great deal to win if Biden is gaffe free, stays on his strong points, and goes on the offensive on his record. Trump had to avoid rambling, he has to have substantive solutions to the problems he says Biden hasn’t solved. 

Robert Busby, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Liverpool Hope University

The occurrence of a debate in June is unprecedented. Ordinarily debates take place in the immediate prelude to the election. Although televised debates first started in 1960 there have been years (1964, 1968, 1972) when they did not take place. In 1992 three people took part in the debates, Bush Sr, Clinton and Perot. However, the placement of a debate in advance of the party conventions is a new occurrence. For a period in the last four years the Republican National Committee had said that Republican candidates would not take part in any debates on account of interpretations of media bias in previous years. However, they have recanted on this and Trump will now face off against Biden. 

For Trump this appears to be an opportunity to take Biden on when there are questions about Biden’s physical health and mental competence on account of his advancing years. this could be a chance to show that Biden is unfit for office and to challenge him in an event which, on account of its unique positioning, will get a large media audience. Trump is not particularly good at debating,  and errs towards repetition quite quickly, but in large part the attention here will be on Biden. The agreed format with no audience and microphone cut-offs when the individual is not asked a question will perhaps not suit Trump, but it is a secondary consideration to getting directly at Biden.

The Democrats have a slightly different take, but the core issue is the same. There are clearly increasing concerns about Biden’s wellbeing which are now being openly circulated, even amongst his allies. Ideally the Democrats need to decide before the convention whether they want to stick with Biden. If he flops with the debate then action can be taken to look for an alternative nominee at the Chicago convention in the summer. If Biden puts up a robust and reassuring performance then it can be anticipated that he can be on the ballot for November, possibly beat Trump and then, if necessary, at some point thereafter hand over power to a vice-president. 

There is a major problem. If Biden falters then it does give the Democrats a chance to look for an alternative. However, it would seem likely that Chicago would be very messy in deciding on who that alternative would be. Gavin Newsom is a prominent figure, but California has many problems that could be highlighted as potential liabilities. Kamala Harris has little popular support, and as much as Michelle Obama keeps on getting mentioned she has no direct political experience beyond being First Lady, and she has already stated that she does not wish to run. So there is a big void here if Biden is not up to scratch. A messy convention would look bad for the Democrats.

Michael Kraft, Emeritus Professor, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

The debate this week is important to both Biden and Trump, but I think it is particularly important for Trump because the vast majority of voters have not seen him answer questions directly in a live format for a very long time. For all of the attention given to Biden’s age and occasional lapses in focus, Trump is likely to look much worse answering questions in a live format. Moreover, the debate rules specify cutting off the microphone if a candidate tries to interrupt the other speaker, so Trump cannot repeat his previous performance in that way and seek to dominate the event.

Reporters who cover his campaign tell us that Trump cannot follow a coherent line of speech and invariably he goes “off script” to rant about his political enemies and offer varied conspiracy theories with no basis in fact. If he does that on Thursday evening, it will not go well for him. He also is not terribly good at sticking to facts about the federal government and different public policy concerns. If he makes comments that are just plain wrong, Biden will answer directly and convincingly. Thus, Trump risks appearing to be ill-informed or indifferent about the real world that voters other than his strongest supporters care about.

Biden, of course, has his own liabilities, made somewhat worse with age. But he is far more practiced at public speaking and dealing with reporters than is Trump, and he is far better informed. As he indicated most recently in his State of the Union address, Biden can be a strong and forceful speaker and can stick to the script. I imagine that he will be spending part of this week being briefed in preparation for the debate, whereas Trump has tended to resist such briefings.

In any event, the Thursday evening debate promises to be a major campaign event, and supporters of both candidates will be paying close attention.

Robert Schmuhl, Professor of American Studies, University of Notre Dame

Joe Biden needs to show Americans that he’s vigorous enough–mentally and physically–to serve as president for another four years. He also needs to explain in clear terms what he’s accomplished during his first term and what he plans to do in the future. 

In addition to outlining a governing agenda for a return to the White House, Donald Trump has to defend himself amid all of the legal charges he faces. 

Polls show a very close election. Both presidential candidates have to find ways of appealing to the small slice of uncommitted voters. If either Biden or Trump make a mistake during the debate, it could be critical to the outcome of the race.