The Trump team swiftly accepted [Biden's debate offer]. And Mr. Trump proceeded to do Mr. Biden the favor of lowering expectations for his performance, writing on social media that his rival was “the WORST debater I have ever faced.” The post was a preview of the insults to come, with Mr. Trump accusing the president of being unable to “put two sentences together” and calling him “crooked” three times.
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Mr. Trump, who turns 78 in June and skipped all of the Republican primary debates, has been eager to meet Mr. Biden onstage, publicly and privately casting him as diminished since 2020. Within hours of Mr. Biden’s announcement on Wednesday, both sides had publicly agreed to a debate on June 27 hosted by CNN in Atlanta and one with ABC News on Sept. 10.
There is also peril for Mr. Trump because Mr. Biden has performed well in key moments when expectations were set low for him — including the 2020 debates and his recent State of the Union addresses.
By accepting Mr. Biden’s deal for two debates, Mr. Trump lost almost all his leverage to demand more, even as his campaign asked for monthly contests and Mr. Trump said he had accepted a Fox News debate in October. The Biden campaign made clear that the president would participate in only two.
As a reminder, in 2020 there were three initially planned scheduled debates. The first debate took place on September 29, 2020. The next debate was scheduled to take place on October 15 but was later canceled due to Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis and refusal to appear remotely rather than in person.
