Trump's Plan For Final Biden Debate Is Absolutely Insane

Trump has one shot to change the public's mind, and he's going to blow it.

(image via Fox News)

by Ben Cohen

There is one issue Republicans are begging Donald Trump to pivot to as both candidates prepare for the final presidential debate this week. They have privately and now publicly urged Trump to stop attacking the media, stop attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci, and above all, leave Hunter Biden alone.

Republicans want Trump to talk about jobs and the economy, but try as they might, Trump is still obsessing over an issue no voter in America outside of his rabid base cares about.

A strategy destined for failure

So adamant is Trump about following bonkers conspiracy theories and personal grievances that he appears to have bullied his campaign into banking everything on a strategy they know cannot work. According to Politico, Trump’s plan for the final debate is to press Joe Biden about his son over a scandal the American public has no interest in:

Trump has sought to make Hunter Biden the face of the Democratic ticket in the closing weeks of the campaign. The president, his family members, Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani are all portraying Hunter Biden — and, by extension Joe Biden — as beholden to the “Chinese Communist Party” because of the son’s past business dealings.

“Why did Biden allow his son Hunter to sell access to him while he was vice president?” Bill Stepien, Trump's campaign manager, said in a statement. “If the media won’t ask Joe Biden these questions, the President will, and there will be no escape for Biden.”

Stepien is a seasoned campaigner and no fool. He knows full well Biden can easily escape questions over his son. Biden can simply ignore them and pivot to topics Americans do want to hear about, like the pandemic, like health care, like a new stimulus or even the color of his suit. Biden will feel extremely confident about this because there is absolutely no evidence from anywhere that Americans have any interest in Hunter Biden or the fake conspiracy created by Trump and his lackeys whatsoever.

There is no conspiracy

Not that anyone outside of Trump’s cult needs to be reminded of this, but there is no Hunter Biden scandal. No evidence of wrongdoing, no impropriety on Joe Biden’s behalf, no nothing. The latest iteration of this conspiracy theory cooked up by Rudy Giuliani and some guy who used to work as a producer for Sean Hannity was so ridiculous even Fox News wouldn’t touch it.

The disdain for Trump’s campaign strategy amongst Republicans is now fully out in the open. GOP pollster Frank Luntz said recently that Trump’s advisers “ought to be brought up on charges of political malpractice,” given their inability to stop the president talking about Hunter Biden. Reported The Hill:

Speaking at a briefing for the British strategic advising company Global Counsel, Luntz said Trump’s advisers have “their heads up their asses” if they think Hunter Biden will be a winning issue for them.

“I’ve never seen a campaign more mis-calibrated than the Trump campaign. Frankly, his staff ought to be brought up on charges of political malpractice,” Luntz said.

“It is the worst campaign I’ve ever seen and I’ve been watching them since 1980. They’re on the wrong issues. They’re on the wrong message. They’ve got their heads up their assess. … Your damn job is to get your candidate to talk about things that are relevant to the people you need to reach. And if you can’t do your damn job then get out.”

Trump’s campaign can’t pivot to issues they know will resonate with voters they desperately need to reach because Trump won’t let them. This isn’t to excuse the sycophants Trump has hired to tell him what he wants to hear — they will likely never work in politics again after this is all over. But it does explain why seasoned veterans like Bill Stepien are incinerating their reputations. They simply do not have a choice. It is an extraordinary spectacle to watch professional adults humiliate themselves over and over again to please an obviously deluded narcissist, but apparently they’ll be making enough money from this sordid enterprise for it to be worth it. Either that or they have a publishing deal for a tell-all book some time in 2021.

Trump won’t pivot because he can’t

Just as Trump doesn’t have the qualities to lead the nation through a pandemic, he doesn’t have the qualities to change tactics in a floundering presidential campaign. Trump can’t stay on message or talk consistently about the economy because he is a one trick pony incapable of change. His campaign team cannot help him because Trump cannot help himself. He is too vain, too greedy, and too caught up in personal grievances to do what is good for him, and he is facing a set of circumstances that won’t bend to his will. As President Obama said of Trump, he “hasn't grown into the job because he can't.”

Trump’s outrageous conspiracy theories worked on President Obama and Hillary Clinton during an economic boom. But in the middle of a pandemic and an economic meltdown, the stakes are far too high for Trump’s bullshit and Americans aren’t buying it any more.

Biden should let Trump talk about his son as much as he wants and not get sucked into a slanging match with the president this Thursday. It will be painful for Biden to watch his son being smeared by a lying sociopath, but the payoff will be worth it. Trump has one last shot to reach Americans before they go to vote in November, and you can be sure that like everything else in his presidency, he’s going to blow it.

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