Last month's debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will likely go down in history as the most consequential debate in presidential politics. I'm still surprised that Biden showed up. Trump had been calling on Biden to debate for months, eventually prompting Biden to issue his own challenge. But shaming Biden into showing up for the debate was not Trump's masterstroke.
Biden had been facing questions about his competence for a long time, and refusing to debate simply wasn't an option. It would be a de facto admission that he couldn't handle it. So the Biden campaign attempted to turn the tables on Trump and accepted the debate, complete with a laundry list of rules to follow, including muting mics and only letting pro-Biden networks host. The terms so ridiculously favored Biden that it would have been well within reason for Trump to refuse or to negotiate different terms. He didn't. He accepted immediately.
Related; The Democratic National Convention Could Be an Epic Political Massacre
Believe it or not, there were plenty of voices on the right who believed that Trump had nothing to gain by debating Biden. Conventional wisdom held that expectations were so low that all Biden had to do was demonstrate a modicum of competence to regain traction in the election. He didn't, and now the campaign is in chaos as Biden is fending off calls from within the party to drop out.
Again, debating Biden wasn't the genius move from Trump — it's his relative silence since. You may have noticed that we've heard little from Trump since the debate. In a move completely uncharacteristic of Trump, he's been largely staying out of the public. Instead, he's letting the national conversation about Biden's mental fitness carry on without any distraction from him.
"We're trying something new and shutting up," a source told ABC News. Multiple sources also told the outlet that they're waiting to see how the Biden campaign handles his political future.
There have even been rumors that he has delayed the announcement of his running mate for this reason. According to CNN, "his campaign is now trying to navigate how to maximize the rollout of his vice presidential pick under unprecedented circumstances while pulling off a convention that can successfully set up the new ticket for the final 3½ months of the race."
Trump had allegedly already chosen his running mate before the debate, but the possibility of Biden dropping out of the race could lead Trump to reconsider his choice. So it's best to lie low and let the Democrats fight their Civil War.
It's a brilliant strategy, and it shows that Trump can be disciplined and let his opponent implode without taking attention away from the chaos and division in the Democratic Party. Biden remains insistent that he is staying in the race, and with that in mind, Democrats may have to fall in line and go down with the ship rather than head into the race as a bitterly divided party over its presidential nominee and potentially sink down-ballot races as a result.
The past week and a half has been one heck of a ride, and Trump is sitting back and enjoying along with the rest of us like a boss.
