Biden having 'senior moment' in debate 'won't be forgiven,' Van Jones says

CNN political commentator Van Jones said President Biden cannot afford to have a "senior moment" during the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday night. 

"[Biden] could have a senior moment," Jones said Thursday morning on CNN. "It won't be forgiven." 

Biden and former President Trump's debate will be their first appearance on stage together since 2020. It will be aired on CNN and simulcast on Fox News. 

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Jones, who previously warned that Biden is losing support among young voters, said the worst debate outcome for the president was a major slip-up on stage. 

"People have senior moments all the time," Jones said. "I say dumb stuff all the time. But if [Biden] does something that's more than usual, that could be very bad for him." 

"Trump has problems tonight as well," Jones added. "Trump's in a box he's never been in before. There's no audience. So that oxygen that he gets from dropping his insults, comic stuff — there's no one that's going to be laughing at his jokes." 

"He's not used to that," Jones continued. "Number two: the mic getting cut off is going to mess him up. Because he loves to run over people. That's his main thing. Won't be able to do it. Number three: he's got to pretend to be somebody he's not. He's got to pretend to be presidential." 

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"So he's going to be playing a role he's not used to, in a format that he's not used to, with his main weapon, being a bully, being taken away from him," Jones said. 

He said Republicans made a strategic mistake by lowering the debate expectations for Biden. 

"I don't know what they're doing," Jones said. "They literally made it, ‘if Biden can walk out there on his own legs … if he doesn’t walk out there with a walker, then he can be president."

However, he said it was unwise to underestimate Trump. 

"Donald Trump is a force of nature," Jones said. "Anyone that's been in a room with this guy, he's a freight train, he's a grizzly bear."

"Anybody that can stand up to that guy for an hour and a half — I couldn't stand the guy for an hour and a half — is fit to be president," Jones said. "So if [Biden's] able to do it, if he's able to put some lefts and rights together for an hour and a half against this guy, it is going to be requalifying" for the president. 

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The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The Biden campaign declined to comment.