Former "Meet the Press" host and current Chief Political Analyst for NBC, Chuck Todd, suggested that the CNN debate rules somehow benefit Trump. 

Todd criticized the Biden campaign for the rules that he believes make Trump appear "more presidential." Todd argued that measures like no audience and muted mics, which the Biden campaign supported, may benefit Trump by preventing any type of interruptions, thus presenting a more restrained demeanor. 

The NBC analyst found it perplexing that the Biden campaign would create an environment potentially advantageous to Trump, recalling how Trump's behavior in the 2020 debates had backfired.

That was the liberal media talking point back in 2020, and they will stick with that narrative as long as possible. 

Todd had this to say about the debate rules:

This to me, though, is the real risk for Team Biden. They so want to have a different experience than the last debate they had with them or the first debate from the last cycle. And ironically, that's the single best debate Biden had, right? Because Trump's behavior really sort of almost cemented Biden's lead by that point and it may have done Trump in at that point. And now here's the Biden campaign trying to come up with a set of rules to make sure Trump seems more presentable?

I have to say, when you sort of look at their motivation here and given the experience they had four years ago, it's a head scratcher to me that they went so out of their way to try to create an environment that will make Trump seem more presidential.

Chuck Todd calls Biden team's debate strategy a "head scratcher."

"It's a head scratcher to me that they went so out of their way to try to create an environment that will make Trump seem more presidential." https://t.co/ojtXctcwvk pic.twitter.com/RwLMYgOCQl

— Zachary Leeman (@WritingLeeman) June 26, 2024

While I understand Todd's assessment, Trump's mic being muted means Biden will not be fact-checked when he claims people are better off now than they were under the Trump presidency, for example. The liberal-friendly media certainly won't fact-check Biden, and if Trump does fact-check him, he cuts into his own time to get his message across to the American people.

Trump feeds off the crowd, using their energy and reactions to bolster his performance, so the absence of a live audience during the debate might impact his usual dynamic. It remains to be seen, but the idea that Trump benefits from the mic being cut off and no audience is ludicrous. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) admitted that the debate rules favor Biden.

I think it's a very good thing for the Biden campaign ... From my perspective, in many ways Biden's already won this debate. First of all, it's on his calendar, it's on his timeline, he asserted himself ... I've been really impressed and inspired by Biden's strategy so far.

Related: Gavin Gives Very Newsom-Like Response When Asked How He Believes Biden Will Perform During Debate

As long as Trump focuses mainly on policy and is on the attack, making Biden play defense, he will have a good debate, no matter what obstacle the moderators throw his way.