i’ve heard the same and the debate made it possible. If they tried it without that debate all hell would have broken loose with the base and MSM.
Without the debate, they would have accomplished the same goal simply by having the media openly report on incidents that have been circulating as just rumors up to now ... like Biden crapping his pants in front of the pope, for example.
You will notice that the debate was preceded by a growing volume of MSM reporting on those incidents -- like the embarrassing episode at the Normandy commemoration, for example.