As you know, Donald Trump and Joe Biden will debate each other on Thursday night for 90 minutes.
There was significant concern that Trump would be caught dead in the water regarding the hush-money case, but Trump has been given some relief on that front by Judge Merchan.
Talking Points…
- The debate
- Gag order partially lifted
- Analysis
Biden and Trump are going to square off this Thursday. Until now, I wondered if Trump debating Biden would be a mistake, given the restrictions that would have been put on him if the gag order had been held up.
This will not be an easy night for Trump because he is facing off against two hostile moderators and Joe Biden. My understanding of Trump's strategy does appear to be a good one. Trump is not doing a traditional debate prep, where you do mock debates to anticipate what your rival will say. Instead, Trump is having policy drummed into his head so he has all his facts and figures straight during the debate.
Biden has been hiding at Camp David since Friday, reportedly with a team of about two dozen people helping him prep for the debate. He has not been heard from the entire time, which is a big red flag for the American people. How can you justify hiding as the sitting president of the United States for a whole week for a 90-minute debate?
All I know is that if I were among Donald Trump's advisers, I would tell him to stay calm and make points that will get under Joe Biden's skin very early in the process. We all know that Joe only has limited battery power, and anger burns energy, so the sooner Trump can get Biden off his mark and make him angry, the sooner that battery power will wear down, and the American people will get to see the real Joe Biden.
As I mentioned above, had the gag order been in place as it was for the trial, I am not sure debating would have been a good idea for Trump. However, Merchan agreed (as did Bragg) that certain aspects of the gag order were no longer needed since the trial was now over. So, Merchan partially lifted the gag order against Trump, which will now enable Trump to respond to any attacks by Joe Biden on this front.
In removing some restrictions from the gag order, Merchan had stated:
"The trial portion of these proceedings ended when the verdict was rendered, and the jury discharged."
He then noted that he had a:
"Strong preference to extend those protections, the Court cannot do so on what is now a different record than what the appellate courts relied upon when they rendered their rulings."
Since the jury and witnesses are no longer part of the appellate process, Merchan begrudgingly removed the gag order preventing Trump from discussing them. However, Trump will still be unable to discuss court staff, DA staff, and family members of the staff. The Trump campaign responded:
"Today's order by Acting Justice Merchan leaves in place portions of the unconstitutional Gag Order, preventing President Trump from speaking freely about Judge Merchan's disqualifying conflicts and the overwhelming evidence exposing this whole Crooked Joe Biden – directed Witch Hunt."
Clearly, the Trump campaign was not happy that only portions of the gag order were lifted, but I still have to consider this a big win for Trump because he will not be completely shut out on this front. Honestly, I doubt the gag order would have stopped Trump from speaking about the case anyway, so this is just less that he has to worry about being fined or imprisoned over. I am not a big fan of debates, as they are generally disorderly and chaotic, but this is undoubtedly one that I will be watching.
