When Donald Trump took the stage at a CNN town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, one year ago, a crowd of his supporters effectively took control of the event.
Joe Biden’s advisers took note. They decided privately that if Biden ever faced Trump on a debate stage, there would be no audience present.
This demand became part of Biden’s reelection campaign proposal to Trump this week for their two general election debates, one in June and the other in September. An empty TV studio, Biden aides believe, could deprive Trump of a significant advantage during their face-off.
“Trump feeds off the crowd, they give him life,” said one Biden adviser, speaking anonymously to discuss internal strategy. “We wanted to take that away.” The Biden team felt several conditions were necessary for agreeing to a debate with Trump. These included holding at least one forum before the start of early voting and ensuring that hosts were not from outlets biased toward Trump. But the crowd issue was a consistent concern among more than a half dozen officials and advisers who were not authorized to discuss private conversations. They worried that audience noise could disadvantage Biden, who sometimes has trouble hearing amid a din, and they wanted to ensure the debate maintained a clean tempo and cadence, avoiding a shouting match or spectacle.
Biden aides plan to use the forums to challenge Trump on abortion, Covid, and what Biden’s team term “threats to democracy.” They were also pleased that the debate might involve microphones that can be cut off if a candidate speaks out of turn. “I think it does matter. I mean, if you watch Trump, that is a big part of how he energizes himself,” said David Axelrod, a longtime aide to Barack Obama. “And so I think that it will have some impact on him that he can’t play to the crowd and doesn’t have that kind of energy — that sort of modular energy that a crowd offers.”
Axelrod noted that the Biden team won negotiations on three points: a debate without a crowd, a debate without third-party candidates, and an early debate. While Axelrod was optimistic, other Democrats remained uneasy about Biden debating Trump at all. Many incumbent presidents running for reelection struggle in their first debate due to lack of recent rigorous primary debates and tough questions from aides. Trump might face similar issues, having skipped the GOP primary and rarely encountering unfriendly interviewers. Biden, who has avoided tough sit-down interviews during his presidency, could face similar challenges.
Some Democrats close to the White House suggested Biden skip the debates, fearing it would fuel perceptions that Biden isn’t up for the job. However, most senior advisers felt he couldn’t avoid them for this reason. The debates also pose risks beyond Biden being out of practice, as Trump is prone to press Biden on topics he may well find difficult.
Ensuring no crowd was one way the Biden camp hoped to avoid such a circus, including surprise guests. Biden aides acknowledged privately that the debates could still fall through. That they came together at all was a surprise, as both campaigns had rejected the Commission on Presidential Debates’ proposed schedule. Nevertheless, the Trump campaign had reached out to television networks more than a year ago to gauge interest in hosting a possible debate. The Biden campaign did the same while opting against the commission’s late fall schedule.
The exact nature of Biden’s debate preparations is still taking shape, though former White House chief of staff Ron Klain will be involved. Some advisers believe Biden has a chance to get a head start in his practice, with Trump likely tied up in a Manhattan court for his trial for at least another week. However, Biden also has a full schedule, with an overseas trip in early June for the D-Day anniversary and the G7 summit.
Despite the busy schedule, prepping for Trump may not be overly complicated, some Democrats argue, as the former president often maintains a consistent demeanor, whether an audience is present or not.