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Trump worried he was hitting Biden too hard during debate
The Hill ^ | Jared Gans

Posted on 04/08/2025 2:56:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway

President Trump was worried that he was going after then-President Biden too hard and coming across as a bully during their consequential debate last year, according to a new book released Tuesday.

An excerpt from “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House” by The Hill senior political correspondent Amie Parnes and NBC News senior national politics reporter Jonathan Allen reveals Trump was taken aback from Biden’s performance on the debate stage and needed time to adjust, realizing he had been right about Biden’s decline.

“Trump couldn’t believe it,” they reported.

“How do I keep hitting him without coming off as an a—hole? Trump thought. And if I do stop hitting him, will viewers lose interest? He suddenly became acutely aware of the optics of bullying a sitting president of the United States.”

Parnes and Allen reported that Trump chose to draw back to avoid coming off as going “off the rails.” He continued to press Biden but not in an overwhelming way.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” Trump said, almost with sympathy, following a Biden “word salad” answer about border security. “I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
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1 posted on 04/08/2025 2:56:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I don’t believe any of this


2 posted on 04/08/2025 2:57:59 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: nickcarraway

“The best Biden ever!”

Joe Scarborough


3 posted on 04/08/2025 2:59:33 PM PDT by packagingguy
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To: Fledermaus

I dunno. When things drifted off into a golf challenge, I got the impression that Trump was being sympathetic to a fading mind.


4 posted on 04/08/2025 3:06:27 PM PDT by gundog (The ends justify the mean tweets. )
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To: nickcarraway

Joe showed up pretty chippy that night, imagining that Trump was Corn Pop.


5 posted on 04/08/2025 3:09:48 PM PDT by lurk (u)
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To: Fledermaus

I don’t know, at least some of what I read seems plausible.


6 posted on 04/08/2025 3:16:51 PM PDT by traderrob6
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To: nickcarraway

lol. , I’m sure Trump was worried about that,


7 posted on 04/08/2025 3:18:16 PM PDT by circlecity
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To: nickcarraway

No Biden administration ‘tell all’ books yet?


8 posted on 04/08/2025 3:24:51 PM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: nickcarraway

What a crock of manure.


9 posted on 04/08/2025 3:37:56 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: circlecity

It is completely plausible. Trump has more compassion than most realize. He instinctively knew he needed to avoid shredding someone who was obviously mentally compromised.


10 posted on 04/08/2025 3:44:08 PM PDT by iamgalt
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To: iamgalt

I agree.


11 posted on 04/08/2025 3:48:18 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Trump has all the right enemies, DeSantis has all the wrong friends.)
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To: traderrob6

Even CNN didn’t know what to do they knew Biden was going to lose and be pulled but they didn’t know how steer the debate decline.


12 posted on 04/08/2025 3:54:13 PM PDT by cnsmom
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To: Fledermaus

Whatever the case may be,
DEMOCRAT Joe Biden deserved
everything he got


13 posted on 04/08/2025 3:57:28 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: mac_truck

(No Biden administration ‘tell all’ books yet?)

He doesn’t remember anything before lunch

Or even lunch

I’d feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such
a complete lying Leftist jerk


14 posted on 04/08/2025 3:59:03 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: iamgalt

I think this is very possible. When you see someone being pummeled repeatedly at some point all you notice is the blood.

I’ve seen boxers hold back for the same reason. While their coaches scream at them to finish the guy off.


15 posted on 04/08/2025 4:00:08 PM PDT by freedomlover
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To: nickcarraway
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” Trump said, almost with sympathy ... "I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

IMO, this was the kill-shot of the debate, and SlowJoe's campaign.  It was delivered with a straight face, and with a tinge of humor.  But it pulled back the curtain on Biden's cognitive decline for all to see; even those who willfully ignored it for years.

16 posted on 04/08/2025 4:02:19 PM PDT by mellow velo
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To: nickcarraway

Bidens performance was based on what drug cocktail he was given. There was the hopped up version such as at his Phidelphia speech, the somewhat high version of Bidens last SOU, but at this debate we likely saw the unmedicated version of Biden, sleepy, befuddled and forgetful.


17 posted on 04/08/2025 4:03:35 PM PDT by The Great RJ
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To: nickcarraway
He suddenly became acutely aware of the optics of bullying a sitting president of the United States.

That's inaccurate. He adjusted to avoid the optics of bullying an obviously sick old man.

18 posted on 04/08/2025 4:08:06 PM PDT by ETCM (“There is no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil.” — Ronald Reagan)
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To: mellow velo

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” Trump said, almost with sympathy ... “I don’t think he knows what he said either.”


It was a masterful stroke, and what IMHO makes Trump Trump.

No other republican could ever have the stones to say something like that, never mind “You’d be in jail”.

I literally rolled out of my chair in laughter at that line. What a Boss.


19 posted on 04/08/2025 4:11:16 PM PDT by freedomlover
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To: Fledermaus

Oh I believe it. I knew back then that Trump had to be careful and not be perceived as a grade school bully picking on the retard.

Luckily Trump let Biden be Biden. That’s all it took.


20 posted on 04/08/2025 4:19:15 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (Nobody elected Elon Musk? Well nobody elected the Deep State either.)
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