Trump’s June 27 Debate Strategy In Three Easy Steps

No public service could be higher than helping reduce the time Joe Biden and his radical progressive puppeteers occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

In that spirit, this pundit cum media trainer and message guy hereby offers, free of charge and without obligation, a foolproof, failproof strategy for Donald Trump’s upcoming June 27 grudge match (literally) with Biden, especially given the concern that Trump will be heading into the lion’s den in CNN’s Atlanta studios.

Based on two Debate 101 lessons that aren’t really news to anyone anymore:

Debates are about “defining moments.” No one remembers anything substantive, but rather the big putaway lines:

• “There you go again.”
• “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
• “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

The gaffes:

• “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.”
• “And I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the … what’s the third one there?”

And the atmospherics:

• Kennedy’s energy versus Richard Nixon’s sweaty, swarthy, sickly presence.
• George Bush checking his watch.
• Al Gore’s surly sighs.

(Those atmospherics might actually favor Biden if he exceeds low expectations, or is sufficiently “spun” to have done so.)

Moderators aren’t moderate. These days, moderators consider themselves celebrities and do often insert themselves into debates. The classic case: Candy Crowley breaking Mitt Romney’s unmistakable momentum by fact-checking him in the midst of a 2012 contest. But Chris Wallace also memorably, repeatedly, and unfairly shut down Trump in his first debate with Biden in 2020. Trump indeed may find himself with no friends in the room without a studio audience and with CNN’s leftish Jake Tapper and Dana Bash posing the questions.

So here are three (count ‘em!) ways Trump can capitalize on these truisms to create defining moments, set and control the tone, and rein in the moderators.

1. Put the CNNers on the defensive from the word “go.”

Trump, with the best-known brand in America, can dispense with the customary introductory opening statement and instead establish some ground rules. Specifically, he should leverage the near-universally held expectation that the two CNN anchors will favor Biden and the certainty that the Delawarean will toss an insulting, condescending or rude utterance his way.

To wit:

“Four years ago, a so-called moderator allowed Joe Biden to get away with telling me, the sitting president of the United States, to ‘shut up’ on national television, and with personal insults like ‘clown’ and ‘racist.’ And moderators in both debates shut down exchanges about Joe’s corrupt son Hunter, which polls show might have changed the election result. 

“So will you allow outrageous behavior and insults like that, and protect him from tough questions, or play it fair? Tell us now – the American people are watching.”

Then, every time a moderator gives the remotest appearance of taking sides with or shielding Biden, revive the aforementioned Gipper line: “There you go again.” If that approach doesn’t tame the CNNers, it will set The Donald up for an “appeal” to the American public on fairness.

2. Pick the right moments to confront Biden on two points:

Senile – or Suspect? “Joe, a special counsel said you’re guilty of mishandling docs – the same crime I’m falsely charged with since I had the authority to declassify them. But he claimed you are too senile to be tried. So will you release your Department of Justice to charge you? Or are you too senile to face those to be president and must resign? There’s no other choice. Which is it? And will you release the interview transcripts?”

Rinse and repeat till he answers.

Mea Culpa – or More Canards?  “Joe, four years ago you stood on a debate stage and said the following about damning information about you on Hunter’s laptop, and I quote: ‘50 former national intelligence folks … said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant. … ‘(F)ive former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.’ Unquote.

“But that statement of 51 former officials was the real garbage. It was a hoax drummed up by your current Secretary of State, Blinken, so you knew firsthand it was a lie.

“So will you tonight on this stage apologize for misleading the American people? And how can they believe anything you say now in a debate when you told a whopper that big four years ago?”

3. Change the inevitable “Biden outperformed” narrative by extending the debate.

It is a sure thing that Biden will commit multiple gaffes and utter numerous lies, which will be glossed over with claims that he “held his own” or exceeded the low expectations set for him merely by surviving.

Both sides will have surrogates in the “spin room” for late-night follow-up, but Trump needs to go bigger than that. His opposition research team should be ready to arm a major surrogate – governors, senators, members of Congress, former cabinet members, business leaders – to hold a press conference or engage in a prime-time cable interview, with soundbites repurposed across social media, every day of the week following the debate. Maybe multiple surrogates distributed regionally to get past the national media.

Have them use a Biden lie or misrepresentation as an entry point for an extended “debate” on his economic policies, lawfare, immigration disaster, abandonment of Israel, and other unpopular and harmful measures. And thereby further cement both his fibs and failures in the minds of Americans.

Three easy steps. You’re welcome, Mr. President.

Bob Maistros is a messaging and communications strategist, crisis specialist, and former political speechwriter. He can be reached at bob@rpmexecutive.com.