{"id":67429,"date":"2020-09-03T13:22:32","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T13:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/nancy-pelosi-tried-to-shield-joe-biden-from-debate-debacle-but-ended-up-making-the-target-bigger\/"},"modified":"2020-09-03T13:22:32","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T13:22:32","slug":"nancy-pelosi-tried-to-shield-joe-biden-from-debate-debacle-but-ended-up-making-the-target-bigger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/nancy-pelosi-tried-to-shield-joe-biden-from-debate-debacle-but-ended-up-making-the-target-bigger\/","title":{"rendered":"Nancy Pelosi Tried to Shield Joe Biden From Debate Debacle but Ended Up Making the Target Bigger"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nancy Pelosi tried so hard to shield Joe Biden from Donald Trump\u2019s expected \u201cskullduggery\u201d on the debate stage that she enabled a bit of it elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The top Democrat in the House said during a press briefing on Aug. 27 that the former vice president should refuse to go one-on-one with the president in the fall because, in her evaluation, Trump will likely just \u201cbelittle what the debates are supposed to be about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not to be about skullduggery on the part of somebody who has no respect for the office he holds,\u201d she said<\/a> from the Capitol.<\/p>\n

But regardless of intention, Pelosi\u2019s words sharpened a weapon the Trump campaign has already started to use against Biden: claiming, contrary to evidence, that he may try to avoid facing Trump live on stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With an official government transcript and video footage at their disposal, Pelosi gifted her Republican opponents days of quotable material to turn against the Democratic nominee just as the race started to tighten up<\/a>. Biden was saddled with the question in television<\/a> interviews<\/a> that took place in the hours after her remarks, and was still repeating the same answers\u2014that yes, he will happily debate Trump\u2014nearly one week later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to debating the president, and I\u2019m going to lay out as clearly as I can what I think we have to do to bring this country back and build it back better,\u201d Biden said to a reporter\u2019s question following a speech in Delaware on Wednesday. \u201cAnd I\u2019m looking forward to the debate.\u201d (The Biden campaign brushed off Pelosi\u2019s difference of opinion saying that they agree on \u201cher views of the president\u2019s behavior.\u201d)<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Trump campaign circulated a letter<\/a> signed by the president\u2019s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to the Commission of Presidential Debates urging that they require Biden to give \u201cwritten assurance\u201d that he will show up to wrangle. Earlier last month, they petitioned<\/a> the group to bump up the planned schedule, a request they vetoed.<\/p>\n

\u201cPelosi the master strategist didn\u2019t screw up,\u201d a senior Trump campaign official theorized. \u201cShe\u2019s clearly laying the groundwork for Joe Biden to withdraw from the debates.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the Trump campaign\u2019s use of Pelosi\u2019s stance to put pressure on Biden, the speaker\u2019s spokesperson pointed to an interview she gave after her press conference, during which she clarified her statement was intended solely as a reflection on Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy I said he shouldn\u2019t debate him has nothing to do with Joe Biden. Joe Biden will be great,\u201d Pelosi said on MSNBC<\/a>\u2019s The Beat with Ari Melber<\/em>. \u201cMy concern was that the president has not shown any respect for the office that he holds, and I don\u2019t expect that he will have any respect for the debates for that office as he has not shown any respect for giving people the right to vote without intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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