2024 US Presidential Election

[SGR]

RFK Jr. challenges Trump to debate after 'Democrat plant' accusation

"When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged," Kennedy wrote in an X post on Saturday afternoon. "President Trump's rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate. President Trump, who has proven himself the most adept debater in modern American political history, should not be panicked to meet me on that stage."

This would be stupid for Trump to agree to (because really, the only upside here is for RFK Jr, with little to no upside for Trump). Still, I'd love to see it happen. I wanna see Trump and RFK Jr debate about all these aliens/UFOs we keep hearing about. And it would be quite something to see RFK Jr. put Trump in a position where he has to defend and support the COVID-19 vaccine.

[Trollheart]

RFK Jr. challenges Trump to debate after 'Democrat plant' accusation

This would be stupid for Trump to agree to (because really, the only upside here is for RFK Jr, with little to no upside for Trump). Still, I'd love to see it happen. I wanna see Trump and RFK Jr debate about all these aliens/UFOs we keep hearing about. And it would be quite something to see RFK Jr. put Trump in a position where he has to defend and support the COVID-19 vaccine.

That bit about Trump being the most adept debater: that's clearly him having a laugh, no? Trump couldn't debate his way out of a paper bag.  Mind you, place "mast" in front of the word and maybe he's on to something...

[Lexi Darling]

To his fans Trump is the best debater by default because they're in a cult that is convinced that anyone debating him is just a lying agent of the deep state shadow government.

You win every contest if you can convince your supporters that you're the only fair player.

[SGR]

That bit about Trump being the most adept debater: that's clearly him having a laugh, no? Trump couldn't debate his way out of a paper bag.  Mind you, place "mast" in front of the word and maybe he's on to something...

I think it's an appeal to Trump's ego and part of the challenge itself. Imagine you're the fastest kid in a small school (or at least, you think you are) and everyone knows it. A new kid starts coming to the school. Then, in front of the class, the new kid says to the fast kid: "I challenge you to a race at recess. Since you're the fastest kid in school, you should have no problem beating me, right?"

[DJChameleon]

That bit about Trump being the most adept debater: that's clearly him having a laugh, no? Trump couldn't debate his way out of a paper bag.  Mind you, place "mast" in front of the word and maybe he's on to something...

I think they meant to say entertaining debater. He runs circles around most politicians. There might not be substance but there is flash and he creates buzzworthy clips for days after.

[SGR]

I think they meant to say entertaining debater. He runs circles around most politicians. There might not be substance but there is flash and he creates buzzworthy clips for days after.

That's a very fair assessment. Trump can make many of the establishment politicians look foolish and inept not by engaging in the real substance of the debate, but rather by taking shots at their integrity (of which most politicians have none) or their past or their insecurities (which often includes their physical appearance). Trump comes from a media/TV background. He knows how to handle media optics in a way that gives him an edge over many politicians. The 2016 Republican debates will forever be some of the most ridiculously entertaining political spectacles America had the (mis?)fortune of witnessing:

The underlying problem is that people don't vote (by and large) based on a logical calculation of policy proposals, but rather based on their emotions. I think Trump realized this, leveraged it, and that's why he was able to win in 2016. Perception is reality for better or worse. Politics has always had an element of bloodsports to it. Trump amplified this further than we've so far seen. Which again raises the interesting question of what the GOP will do when he's out of the picture.