It’s difficult to overstate just how eager Donald Trump was to debate President Joe Biden. Last summer, for example, the Republican said the debates “definitely” have to happen. Soon after, the former president suggested he’d like to see 10 debates, rather than the usual three.
As regular readers might recall, Trump used his social media platform in the spring to declare that he was prepared to debate the Democratic incumbent “ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE,” regardless of who organizes the events. A month later, the former president headlined a rally in Wisconsin and appeared alongside an empty podium on the stage.
“This is for Joe Biden,” Trump said. “I am trying to get him to debate.”
It was not subtle. The GOP nominee worked from the assumption that a one-on-one debate against the incumbent would go his way, and as it turns out, it did.
But now that Biden has decided to forgo his re-election plans, is the former president equally eager to share a stage with Vice President Kamala Harris? Here was the message Trump published to his social media platform a few hours after Biden’s announcement:
“My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September. Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC. Thank you! DJT”
At this point, we could note that there’s literally zero evidence of Biden being corrupt; presidential scholars consider Trump the worst president in American history; ABC News is neither “fake” nor “very biased; and Trump’s deliberate misspelling of George Stephanopoulos’ name makes the Republican look like an ill-tempered tween.But as relevant as those details are, let’s not miss the forest for the trees: When it came to a possible debate against Biden, Trump said, “ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE.” When it comes to a possible debate against Harris, Trump’s message is … noticeably different. What’s more, Politico reported overnight, “One GOP source tells me he doubts Trump will debate Vice President Kamala Harris — he’ll likely call her an illegitimate candidate.” In fairness, it’s worth emphasizing that Jason Miller, a senior member of the former president’s campaign team, told NBC News that there will “definitely” be another debate. Whether his boss ends up agreeing remains to be seen.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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