Trump Wants To Skip The 2020 Debates Because He’s Afraid Of The Moderators

In another example of how Donald Trump views himself as an authoritarian ruler who shall not be questioned, the president is reportedly considering skipping the 2020 presidential debates.

According to The New York Times, “President Trump is discussing with his advisers the possibility of sitting out the general election debates in 2020 because of his misgivings about the commission that oversees them, according to two people familiar with the discussions.”

The report notes that Trump is most concerned about who will be chosen to moderate the debates.

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Mr. Trump has told advisers that he does not trust the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonprofit entity that sponsors the debates, the two people said.

Less of a concern for Mr. Trump than who will emerge as the Democratic nominee is which media personality will be chosen as the debate moderator, according to people in contact with him.

At a state-of-the-race campaign briefing in Arlington, Va., the president’s advisers declined to comment on what their plan was for the debates. One senior adviser to the president seemed to wince at the question, and said it was not something advisers were prepared to discuss until next year.

The report, citing former Clinton aides, also floats the possibility that Trump could only participate in one debate since it “would not be strategically smart” to sit out all three.

The Fox News president crumbles outside of his MAGA bubble

Donald Trump has good reason to be concerned about taking part in the presidential debates next year. After all, polls showed that Hillary Clinton cleaned his clock in all three of the debates held in 2016, though Trump blamed a defective microphone for some of his struggles.

Not to mention, the president has spent the last three years increasingly inside of his Fox News-MAGA bubble, even more so than he was during the 2016 election cycle. He is most comfortable chatting with Sean Hannity or phoning in to Fox & Friends than he is taking legitimate questions from actual journalists.

Add Trump’s discomfort with stepping out of his echo chamber to his clear mental decline – most recently put on display during this week’s MAGA rally in Pennsylvania – and it’s no wonder this president wants nothing to do with a presidential debate.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.