Nancy Pelosi added her voice to the chorus of Democrats who express concern about Joe Biden debating President Donald Trump next month.
Former Vice President Biden, the 77-year-old Democratic nominee, and Trump, 74, will meet for their first presidential debate on Sept. 29.
Democrats are extremely concerned after President Trump demanded Biden take a drug test before they face off.
Speaker of the House Pelosi is desperately trying to cancel the debates altogether.
“I don’t think that there should be any debates,” Pelosi said on Thursday.
“I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with [Trump] – nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States,” she added.
Pelosi said Trump was “disgraceful” when he “stalked” Hillary Clinton all over the stage during the 2016 debate, and that he will probably “act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency.”
Pelosi fears Trump will dominate Biden and make him look weak in front of 300 million Americans.
“I think he will also belittle what the debates are supposed to be about,” she said. “And they’re not to be about skulduggery on the part of somebody who has no respect for the office he holds, much less the democratic process. I don’t think that he should dignify that conversation with Donald Trump.”
Pelosi suggested eliminating the debates in favor of each candidate holding separate “conversations” with voters, saying: “Let that be a conversation with the American people, not an exercise in skulduggery.”
Democrats around the country are pressuring the Biden campaign to call off all debates with Trump due to the coronavirus pandemic. They don’t think Biden has the stamina to go toe-to-toe with Trump for an hour and a half.
Former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart warned Biden, “whatever you do, don’t debate Trump.”
Biden has said he will campaign from his basement until November amid the coronavirus pandemic — leaving his running mate, Kamala Harris, to do his campaigning for him.
