Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Taunts Trump Over Skipping Debates: Why is He So ‘Afraid?’
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
The opinion leaders at the WSJ aren’t quite clucking like a chicken to mock the former president, but they are coming awful close.
The Editorial Board at the Wall Street Journal is shining a very bright light on former President Donald Trump’s decision to skip primary debates in a searing column asking, “What is Donald Trump afraid of?
The Rupert Murdoch-owned outlet, whose opinion side has long been a respected and influential conservative voice, has, for some time, been critical of Trump. However, this new piece raises a question sure to be amplified by Trump’s rivals and a political media ecosystem that stands to gain from future debates that include the former president, even if he may be under 91 separate indictments.
The editorial opens plainly, asking, “Why is Mr. Trump afraid to confront other Republicans without the aid of a teleprompter? Is he worried he’d look his age at 77 next to younger candidates? To state the obvious, Mr. Trump is running to be President and leader of the free world. Voters deserve to hear him defend his record and his platform.”
The piece then lists several potential debate topics suggesting that Trump may come up short in a political back and forth on such issues as the response to COVID-19, Abortion, January 6th, and “Age and Competence,” among others.
Its final argument, however, comes down to “Electability,” which they write:
If the GOP fields a candidate from Mr. Biden’s generation, instead of someone more vigorous, wouldn’t it be giving up an advantage over the incumbent? And did Mr. Trump really try to delete the security tapes at Mar-a-Lago to hide his classified files, as the strongest indictment against him alleges?
“Mr. Trump’s advisers may be telling him he shouldn’t appear lest he say something that hurts his legal defense,” the essay concludes. “But that’s a sign of weakness, not strength, and he’ll have to answer those questions eventually. What is the former President afraid of?”
Good question!
Read the entire column here.
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