Faceoff in Atlanta shaping up to be the most consequential debate in political history

Former President Donald Trump told supporters last week that he will be facing three opponents at the upcoming debate: President Joe Biden and two of CNN’s most partisan hosts, moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. 

The stakes are high for both Biden and Trump at Thursday night’s showdown in Atlanta. With approximately 20% of voters still undecided, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, the two men will pull out all the stops to win them over. 

Don’t expect to see the stumbling, bumbling Biden we’ve grown accustomed to – the one who often devolves into gibberish and has trouble navigating his way into a Chevy Suburban. He will be replaced by the angry, loud, overstimulated Biden whose aggressive demeanor took us all by surprise at the March State of the Union address. As Trump put it so eloquently at his Philadelphia rally on Saturday, Biden will be “all jacked up” after “he gets a shot in the a**.” 

But there will be one major difference between this debate and the State of the Union address. Rather than reading prepared remarks from a teleprompter, Biden will be required to think on his feet and to convey his thoughts in a coherent manner, processes that have become increasingly difficult for him.

Fortunately for Biden, he will be questioned by friendly moderators. And at his campaign’s insistence, the event will not take place before a live audience. It’s even possible his campaign has received the questions in advance just as Hillary Clinton did before a 2016 CNN debate.

Biden cleared his calendar for a solid week to hunker down with close aides at Camp David to prepare for the big night. Trump, on the other hand, has been campaigning in blue cities and meeting with policy advisers in between. 

Although the Biden campaign is hoping that Trump is still the loose cannon he was in 2020, the discipline and the presidential bearing he’s displayed on the campaign trail of late suggests that he’s learned a thing or two. 

Rather than reading prepared remarks from a teleprompter, Biden will be required to think on his feet and to convey his thoughts in a coherent manner, processes that have become increasingly difficult for him.

Still, Biden will try to bait Trump at every turn. He will call Trump a convicted felon. He will remind voters that Trump was found liable for sexual assault, that he allegedly tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and that if Trump wins a second term he will go on a revenge mission. 

Biden will accuse Trump of inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Trump should explain that, concerned over FBI warnings of potential violence, he made multiple offers to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to deploy National Guard troops to protect the Capitol. Trump’s offers and Pelosi’s and Bowser’s subsequent rejections are well-documented in an official timeline provided by the Capitol Police.

This explanation will resonate with voters in light of a video, recorded on Jan. 6 by Pelosi’s daughter and released earlier this month by House Republicans, of Pelosi blaming herself for the lack of National Guard troops at the Capitol on that fateful day.

Trump should also demand Biden answer for the infamous letter signed by 51 former intelligence community officials that claimed the Hunter Biden laptop story had all the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign. Published just days before a critical 2020 presidential debate, Biden used the letter to shut down questions from Trump about his family’s alleged overseas influence-peddling business. The pivotal letter arguably saved Biden’s candidacy.

In April 2023, House Republicans revealed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, then a top adviser to the Biden campaign, was panicked by the allegations exposed by the New York Post’s blockbuster story and served as the “impetus” behind the letter. 

Trump would do well to emulate the tone of the widely acclaimed victory speech he delivered after winning the Iowa caucuses in January in which he called upon Americans of all political stripes to come together to solve the problems we face. It was one of his finest moments. 

Indeed. Trump will win the night if he can remain calm, cool, and resist Biden’s taunts. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recommended that Trump use humor, rather than anger, to defeat Biden in the debate. Trump has a sharp wit and it has certainly benefited him in the past.

The faceoff in Atlanta is shaping up to be the most consequential presidential debate in political history. Although both candidates have a lot riding on their performances, it’s Biden’s that matters the most, for better or worse. 

If Biden can show voters he’s not the senile mess his recent public appearances would suggest, he’ll get a much needed boost. If he instead falters, which is equally possible, he could be asked by party leaders to step aside. It’s make or break time for the president. 

Simply put, Biden wouldn’t have agreed to debate Trump, particularly this early, if he didn’t need something big to reboot his campaign. 

Elizabeth Stauffer is a Research Fellow at the Sixteenth Council