• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, June 5, 2024

In the 2015-16 run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump was a debate star.

But what will he be like later this month, on June 27, in the first debate of the summer campaign season leading up to Election Day in November?

The debate is the first of two that will pit Trump against Joe Biden this year. It will be seen on CNN and other Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, live from CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

Back in 2015-16, after announcing his candidacy for president in June 2015, Trump vanquished foe after foe as the many hopefuls for the Republican nomination fell by the wayside through a long debate season.

When the smoke cleared, Trump was the last elephant standing (an elephant being the symbol of the GOP).

On TV, he came across as confident and charismatic. Like him or hate him, he knows how to perform on television. At least, he once did.

He then faced off against the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in three debates, in which Trump’s behavior ranged from inarticulate to thuggish.

Opinions were divided on who won those debates, but Trump went on to win the election anyway -- a victory that no doubt boosted his self-confidence and self-love into a stratosphere from which he has yet to descend.

“Trump might come across as inarticulate to many -- particularly the pundits who come on TV to expound on these debates after they’re over,” the TV Blog wrote back then.

“But in his weird word-salad way, he speaks a language his constituents have no trouble understanding. He speaks their language.”

In advance of the debate with Joe Biden later this month, the question is, does Donald Trump still have it?

The Republicans have a lot of ammunition to throw at the Democratic president this year -- an immigration crisis, a perception that the U.S. is not militarily prepared for potential conflicts with other great powers, economic issues and other hot-button topics.

Trump will toss a lot of it at Biden, but the ex-prez is better at name-calling and belittling than parsing the great issues of our time.

The biggest difference for Trump this time around, however, as this debate nears and the Republican and Democratic conventions loom later in the summer, is that he is now a felon.

So, while Trump calls the President “Crooked Joe,” Biden can respond with “Crooked Donald” or “Felonious Trump.”

Trump’s felony convictions will provide ample ammunition for Biden if he chooses to go there. On the other hand, Trump could parry with Biden’s son, Hunter.

Biden is 81 and everybody talks about his age and ability to hold the office of President of the United States well into his 80s.

But Trump is 77, which most people would consider an advanced age too. The fact that these two old guys are our only choices for President this year is discussed and bemoaned by everybody.

How will this look and sound on TV? In other campaign appearances such as debates, Joe Biden tosses word salads of his own.

As these debates wear on, he tends to seem tired, resulting in outbursts that border on incoherence.

Despite his own advanced age, Trump doesn’t seem to tire quite so easily. But nor have we seen him on a debate stage in four years. Does he have the same old stamina?

Yes, the debate is shaping up to be a battle of word salads. On the night of June 27, expect record viewership as America bellies up to the Trump-Biden salad bar. 

Trump photo courtesy of NBC News, “Meet the Press,” September 17, 2023.