Current Events > Why did Joe Biden engage with Trump as often as he did?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like, you had months, if not years, to prepare for this kinda thing. At this point, everyone knows Trump is gonna bully and not debate, so prepare anti-bully measures on top of what your points are. Isn't there someone on the team that would be like, "keep your cool, Joe. Just talk and don't engage". Or like any domineering online troll fest, use your opponents trolling in your favor. Or wouldn't they run mock/practice debates to help him practice speaking while in that pressure?

Granted he still kept his cool most the time, but I feel like it should've been near flawless. You already have the anti-Trump people on your side. You have to be flawless so that no matter what interpretation of the debate you have, you come out looking stronger. Obviously you want to defend yourself and hold your ground, deny lies, and defending your son makes sense, but I think he would've look untouchable, rather than simply more reasonable, if he didn't stoop down to his level.

Which is even dumb I even have to think of it this way because a debate should be about actual issues and not manipulative social dynamics.

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He likely knew and was told to ignore him, but different when you've actually got a child screaming in your face.

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Because

Hes an idiot. We only want him because his stupidity isnt destructive.

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He didn't stoop to Trump's level.

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Its impossible to not respond to Trump and not responding to his attacks would have made him looked weaker.

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y'all hold Dems to all types of standards and than hold Republicans to non lol.

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The problem was that the debate didn't allow Biden to just ignore him or not engage him. Trump was loudly talking over Biden the entire night to the point where you couldn't hear what Biden was saying. And while Chris Wallace tried to make him stop he never had any control of the situation. The next debate needs to have the spread farther apart and have the other's mic shut off when it isn't their turn to speak. Then Trump can do what he likes because it cannot interrupt Biden, and vice-versa.

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I only watched a little but I thought he kept a very cool head for Trump shouting "AND YOUR SON IS A LOSER AND A COKE ADDICT"

I am very proud of my son for overco-- "AND HE MADE MILLIONS FROM UKRAINE MOBSTERS"

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If he just meekly ignored him or went silent when Trump interrupted, people would bitch that he just rolled over.

In a debate where the moderator isn't doing his job and the opponent isn't remotely following debate protocols, you have to respond.

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guess Joe had enough of his shit...

i imagine it must feel good to tell that jackass to shut the hell up even tho its a bit unprofessional of his part. lol

I honestly think him completely ignoring him and not engaging with him could have had a backfire effect.

The people on the fence are going to look at Trump shouting a bunch of damning accusations (albeit false) and if Biden just doesn't engage at all and ignores it, it's going to look bad for those fence sitters or independents.

If anything I think him hitting back at him hard would be more effective and would actually shock a lot of the undecideds in a positive way.

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Biden is the only person on the planet that can tell Donald Trump to shup up to his face. I am glad he took the opportunity

I still think he handled himself a lot better than Sanders or Warren would have

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He was trying to stand his ground and failed. Ended up getting bullied out of a third of his speaking time.

Hillary stood her ground way better and didn't let Trump drag her down to his level.

Shadowplay posted...

He didn't stoop to Trump's level.

Yes he fucking did, clown.

You can't call someone else "so unpresidential" only to turn around and resort to namecalling.
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Shadowplay posted...

He didn't stoop to Trump's level.

They were both fucking idiots

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There were a few moments where he was clearly trying not to respond but failed.

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NoMeLx22x posted...

I honestly think him completely ignoring him and not engaging with him could have had a backfire effect.

I'm not saying completely ignore him all the time. I'm saying you can clearly use it to your advantage and still look stronger. Just work his gasoline into your fire.

"You're a loser." "Well, you're a clown!!"

vs

"You're a loser." "I'm here to debate, we need action, not namecalling for this country Mr President"

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Funkydog posted...

He likely knew and was told to ignore him, but different when you've actually got a child screaming in your face.

Right but there's a lot on the line here. You need to practice day in and day out. Coaching, debate analyzers, Trump analyzers, hire Trump impersonators to really dig at you, etc. This is why Joe Biden is up there and you or I aren't. He's gotta have all this shit hammered down and not just winging it.

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Trump hilariously bullied Biden. I dont know who won though.

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