Donald Trump and his supporters attack CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash ahead of presidential debate. This is a poor strategy that has failed in 2020.
CNN issued a statement defending Jake Tapper and Dana Bash after CNN’s Kathy Hunter ended an interview with the Trump spokesperson because she wouldn’t stop attacking the CNN host:
Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are respected veteran journalists who have covered politics for more than 50 years combined. They have extensive experience moderating major political debates, including this cycle’s Republican presidential primary debates on CNN. There are no two people better equipped to co-host a substantive, fact-based discussion, and we look forward to the debate on June 27 in Atlanta.
Trump attacked Bash and Tapper, and there is widespread agreement that complaining about a debate before it starts is a losing strategy.
We don’t have to rely on other people’s opinions to know that this strategy is bad.
Four years ago, Trump and his supporters used the same tactic ahead of the first general election debate with Joe Biden.
Trump attacks 2020 debate moderator Kristen Welker:
“She’s a radical Democrat,” Trump told supporters in Arizona on Monday, adding that the reporter “has been shouting questions at me for a long time.” The attack on the stage followed him Tweet On Saturday, Welker “always sucked and was unfair, like most fake news reporters, but I’m still going to play the game.”
Donald Trump has few policy positions and no interest in governing. Trump’s only concern is getting people to vote for him so he can return to power. Given the circumstances, the former president is unable to debate President Joe Biden, so he will debate with a moderator instead.
Again, we know this because he’s done it before.
One of Trump’s favorite tactics during the 2016 Republican primary debates was to attack the moderators. Trump believes that this resonates with the audience while also showing dominance and toughness.
This strategy will not work in 2024 because there will be no audience. It’ll be Donald Trump, Joe Biden, the hosts and an empty studio.
By attacking the host, Trump exposed his vulnerability. The former president is trying to deflect attention from his performance. This is the plan of a candidate who expects to fail and tries to make excuses for his failure.
The more Trump and his allies complain about the moderators they agree with, the less confident they are in the outcome of the debate.
