House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday weighed in on the presidential debate earlier this week between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, saying that the Democratic nominee should no longer “dignify” future debates by participating in them.
Pelosi made the comments during an interview on Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power” with host David Westlin.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a weekly news conference, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP)
Asked by Westlin, whether Pelosi would advise Biden to go forward with the next two debates with Trump, “given what we saw in the first one,” Pelosi said: “I myself do not think that Joe Biden should dignify a debate with the president who has no commitment to fact, evidence, data, demeans the office he holds. And you saw on that stage authenticity on both sides: (the) president authentically a bully, Joe Biden, authentically decent.”
Tuesday night’s debate deteriorated into bitter taunts and chaos as Trump repeatedly interrupted his Democratic rival with angry jabs.
Trump refused anew to say whether he would accept the results of the election, calling on his supporters to scrutinize voting procedures at the polls — something that critics warned could easily cross into voter intimidation.
TRUMP PUSHES BACK AGAINST CHANGES TO FUTURE DEBATES AS DEMS FLOAT ‘MUTE BUTTON’
The president also refused to condemn white supremacists who have supported him, telling one such group known as the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
While some Republicans feared the president’s debate performance was too abrasive, Trump gave himself high marks as he left Washington.
Pelosi called the debate “a sad occasion for the country.”
“People say, ‘well they should have had a button to turn one microphone off while the other person was speaking.’ Whatever it is, I think one and done.”
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The House Speaker clarified comments she made last month, arguing that the former Vice President should cancel his three scheduled debates with Trump because the commander-in-chief would “belittle” the forum and engage in “skullduggery.”
“I never thought (Biden) shouldn’t do it because I didn’t think he wouldn’t do well. I thought he shouldn’t do it because I thought something like this could happen,” Pelosi said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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