Senate GOP fears Trump setting bar too low for Biden

Senate Republicans say former President Trump is making a mistake in setting too-low expectations for President Biden at their initial debate next month as he argues his successor at the White House “can’t put two sentences together.”

They say Trump risks lowering the floor for Biden to the point that a decent performance, not a superlative one, will help the president. And they say it's familiar frustration to them, as Trump also lowered expectations for Biden ahead of the first debate in 2020 — a move that backfired spectacularly. 

“It makes no sense,” one Senate Republican said on the condition of anonymity. “It was a catastrophe [in 2020], and I think he’s teeing himself up for the same thing." 

“Biden is willing to debate him and will be prepared, and Trump will be Trump,” the lawmaker continued, “and it didn’t work out well the last time Trump did that.”

Biden on Wednesday issued a challenge for Trump to meet for two debates, which are set to take place in June and September and will be independent of the Commission on Presidential Debates. The former president quickly agreed and immediately talked down Biden’s abilities on the debate stage, declaring him the “the WORST debater I have ever faced.”

The rhetoric was incredibly similar to Trump’s comments leading up to the first debate in 2020, which included accusations that Biden was suffering from dementia and that he was taking performance-enhancing drugs. 

What followed was a poor night for Trump, who was aggressive throughout the debate and constantly interrupted Biden. He was also visibly sweating and days later announced that he tested positive for COVID-19, which angered Biden’s camp. 

Trump went on to lose the election.

Republicans are worrying that the lead-up to the June event could be a case of déjà vu that might boost Biden, who badly needs it as he is trailing Trump in polls of swing states.

“I’ve always thought you needed to underpromise and overdeliver,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is running to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) atop the Senate GOP next year.

Biden challenged the former president to the pair of debates after months of questions over whether they would ultimately meet this cycle, especially after how tumultuous the 2020 debates turned out. 

Republicans believe Biden laid down the gauntlet to give his campaign a needed boost.

Trump has led Biden in national and key swing state polls relatively consistently, but a new New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer poll this week gave the president’s team fresh reason to worry.

It showed that Trump leads in five key states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada — with less than six months to go until the November election. Trump led by double digits in Nevada and Georgia.

While plenty of Republicans are questioning the political wisdom of setting the bar low for Biden, some Trump supporters saw his barbs at the president as Trump getting his own fans excited and motivated for a show.

“One thing that Trump is: He’s a phenomenal marketer,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who predicted that the June debate will be the most-watched debate in history. Trump’s first meeting with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds that distinction with 84 million viewers. 

“I think Trump is just marketing it like he is, and I think Biden is taking the bait on it,” Mullin said.

And while the Oklahoma senator said he does not think Biden will “bomb” at the debate, he suggested the president could face more trouble in a debate with Trump than in giving a State of the Union address to Congress.

“There’s one thing for him to give a speech in front of Congress that he’s reading, versus actually having to think on your feet and put together your sentences,” he said.

The June debate is set to take place in Atlanta and be hosted by CNN. The two candidates also agreed to a second debate in September to be hosted by ABC News in their studios in New York City. 

Both candidates are taking calculated risks by appearing onstage together and doing so this early in the campaign cycle, ahead of both party conventions that are slated for later in the summer. For Biden, it could bring up a common critique that he is too old for the job if he has an episode of forgetfulness.

But a reprisal of Trump’s first debate performance from 2020 could be a problem for the former president.

Starting the debate season so early also marks a push by the Biden campaign to turn the election into a choice between the two candidates rather than a referendum, and to turn voter attention to the race earlier than normal. 

“I’m really happy Biden’s being aggressive on this,” said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). “He’s got to display his inner-stated unions performance theatrics this campaign, so the debates will give him a chance to do that.”

One group that was ecstatic with Trump’s opening salvo against the president, unsurprisingly, was Senate Democrats, who argued that Biden is making a savvy decision on the debate front after months of speculation over whether they will meet. 

“Set those expectations, Donald Trump!” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exclaimed. “I think that Donald Trump should just keep talking about Donald Trump.”