The debate is looming just ahead, but while both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will both have the goal of winning the debate, what a winning scenario looks like couldn't be more different.
For instance, Joe Biden's goal will be to...be there. I mean that in both the physical and mental sense of the word. Biden's goal will be to look at least a little cognizant of what's going on because if he does the media can use that as a way to tell Americans that the cognitively challenged octogenarian isn't losing it after all. It's a pretty low bar, but one that Biden has a high probability of stumbling on. That fact alone should be enough, but we live in weird times.
For Trump, the goals are more complex, partly because the hurdles put in his way will be far higher thanks to a media that has made it very clear they've got it out for him. As I wrote before, Trump's primary opponent won't actually be Biden, it'll be the media. The media is going to be there long after Biden is, plaguing Trump's presidency and his personal life (should he win) just like it has for years and years. A large part of Trump's victory on Thursday night will be seeing to it that the media is discredited and shamed, along with Biden and his administration.
(READ: Trump's Real Objective During His Debate With Biden Isn't Just About Defeating Biden)
But that doesn't mean that Trump should take Biden lightly. The hope is that Biden will be Biden, unable to string simple sentences together, getting lost on topics, and being generally embarrassing for the DNC and his supporters. We won't know until the debate starts, but regardless, the goal for Trump should be to make it clear that Biden isn't the kindly, misunderstood grandpa that the media and his handlers have tried to pass him off as.
The goal will be to actually highlight Biden for what he actually is, and not only him, but the entirety of the Democrat Party. He needs to highlight them as the elitists they are. The uncaring, bureaucratic, radicals that have brought so much grief to the American people. The goal for Trump is to rip away the veil the Democrats have put over themselves as the part of the people and make it clear that they're the party of themselves.
Trump needs to say names. Talk about affected families.
For instance, back during his State of the Union, Biden couldn't even say Laken Riley's name, calling her "Lincoln," and then later apologizing for calling the illegal alien who murdered the girl an illegal. Trump should say Laken Riley's name clear as a bell and be unapologetic for calling her murderer an "illegal." He should also say the names of others that have been murdered thanks to Biden's horrific border policies, such as 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was raped and killed by two illegal aliens after Biden's border patrol caught them and released them into America.
(READ: Your Children Will Not Inherit America If the Democrats Win in November)
I'm not suggesting Trump use these names as props. I think they truly deserve representation on that stage, as the man who allowed their murders to happen will be standing just feet from Trump, and he should hear their names spoken to him.
Trump should also highlight the economic impact of American families and small business owners that Biden's policies have had. Trump should talk of inflation from the perspective of the average American, having to suffer as everything from their energy bill to their grocery bill has skyrocketed, and how people have lost employment thanks to the closure of the businesses they worked at as Biden continues to brag that he's created more jobs than both Trump and Obama. Trump needs to call that lie out, and find a way to explain to the American people why it's a lie in the short time he's given.
I have no doubt that the pandemic will come up, and Trump should strike on behalf of the people there as well, pointing out that the Democrats attempted to force policies on businesses and people's bodies in the name of "the science" which contained hardly any science at all. Trump should point out that the Biden administration talks about "my body, my choice" when it comes to women and abortions, but will happily strip away any sense of choice from the people if it means they can inject unproven chemicals into people that, frankly, did more harm than good. Trump should point out that people died or were irreparably damaged thanks to the vaccine that Biden tried to force into people in order to keep their jobs.
In short, Trump need not turn this into a Trump vs. Biden slugfest where the two go at each other. Trump needs to turn this into a Biden vs. the people. Trump needs to position himself as our representative. This will be hard to do as both Biden and the media will be trying to keep Trump on the defensive the entire time, but Trump is in the unique position of being able to dismiss accusations against him by pointing out that most of the attacks he's endured came at the hands of a corrupt Democrat Party that caused people to suffer while it spent millions of our taxpayer dollars and an inordinate amount of time just coming after him.
Even the felonies Trump was charged with can be utilized as a way for Trump to make himself look like the outsider the elites are scared of, putting him into the position of "rebel." Thanks to the large amount of spite the Democrats created against themselves over the past few years, this label would sit well with quite a few Americans and would be far more relatable.
Trump should be very careful not to allow himself to be put on the defensive, and that will require him to make attacking him seem dangerous. By positioning himself as the voice of the people, the Democrats could be thrown off and every attack made to backfire.
