The Democrats Are Desperately Trying To Keep Biden From Facing Off Against President Trump

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told former Vice President Joe Biden that he should cancel his scheduled debates with President Trump because she believes the commander-in-chief would “belittle” the forum.

It’s unclear if Pelosi is actually trying to help Biden by trying to stop him from making a fool of himself in front of the cameras.

Out of the blue at a news conference at the Capitol, Pelosi said, “I don’t think that there should be any debates,” adding that she doesn’t want the debates to be “an exercise in skullduggery.”

“I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him, nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States,” she continued. “Now I know that the Biden campaign thinks in a different way about this.”

However, Biden informed MSNBC that he still plans on showing up to the highly anticipated faceoffs with the president saying, “As long as the [debate] commission continues down the straight and narrow as they have, I’m going to debate him,” adding that he would call out Trump’s lies in real-time.

“I’m going to be a fact-checker on the floor as I’m debating him,” he said.

Pelosi is just the latest in the list of high-profile Democrats to offer Biden some advice on the campaign trail. Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton told Biden not to concede the race under any circumstances.

Republicans believe Pelosi’s warnings are a sign that Democrats are trying to hide Biden.

Communication director for the Republican National Committee, Michael Ahrens, suggested in a tweet that the Democratic leaders are giving Biden some very specific orders.

Democrats' advice to Joe Biden:

1) Don't debate.
2) Don't leave the basement.
3) Don't concede the election.

Odd way to project confidence in your nominee.

— Michael Ahrens (@michaelahrens) August 27, 2020

Pelosi’s comment came completely unprompted during her weekly news conference and was not at all a response to a question about the debates. She called Trump’s performance at the 2016 debate “disgraceful” and claimed he was “stalking” Clinton on stage. This is just one reason why she thinks Biden should break tradition and sit out the debates.

“So I think that he’ll probably act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency; he does that every day,” Pelosi said of Trump. “But I think it will also belittle what the debates are supposed to be about. And they’re not to be about skullduggery on the part of somebody who has no respect for the office he holds, much less the democratic process.”

Pelosi continued, “Why else would he try to undermine the elections in the manner in which he is doing? So, if Joe Biden asked me what I thought about it, [I’d say] I don’t think that he should dignity that conversation with Donald Trump.”

Biden’s campaign responded to Pelosi’s comments saying that while they agree with her characterization of the president, Biden will still be going through with the debates.

Andrew Bates, Biden’s campaign spokesperson, said, “We certainly agree with Speaker Pelosi on her views of the President’s behavior. But just as she has powerfully confronted that behavior in the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room, Joe Biden looks forward to doing the same on the debate stage.”