Nancy Pelosi admits she 'would never recommend' Biden debate Trump on stage after surprise announcement
Nancy Pelosi revealed that she would prefer separate town hall sessions and not a debate after Biden and Trump agreed to a televised debate.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday revealed her personal views on a debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.
"I myself would never recommend going on stage with Donald Trump, but the president has decided that's what he wants to do," Pelosi said. "I think the format he is suggesting is a good one."
Biden and Trump on Wednesday morning agreed to two debates, one on June 27 hosted by CNN and a second on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC. The Biden-Harris campaign asked that the debates occur inside a TV studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit elapses.
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Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested that instead of a debate, she would prefer to see "a separate town hall meeting" for each presidential candidate. (CNN)
Pelosi also suggested that instead of a debate, she would prefer to see "separate town hall meetings" for each candidate to let the audience "challenge them with questions about the future."
The final debate between Trump and Biden in 2020 was particularly heated, involving clashes between the candidates over COVID-19 and the economy. Pelosi detailed her concerns about Trump's demeanor on the debate stage and referenced one of the most famous debates between Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential race.
"I think he was stalking Hillary Clinton. He wasn't professional, he wasn't presidential, he wasn't meeting the dignity of the office," she said, according to CNN reporter Manu Raju.
In her book, "What Happened," Clinton recounted the experience of Trump following her closely around the stage as she took questions from a live audience in a book from 2017.
"This is not OK, I thought," she wrote.
"It was the second presidential debate and Donald Trump was looming behind me," she wrote, adding that she considered telling him to "back up."
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Pelosi revealed her misgivings about a presidential debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump after the two candidates agreed to a televised rematch on Wednesday. (Getty Images )
Biden's announcement that he would like to debate Trump comes amid a slew of polls that indicate Trump is leading Biden in five out of six of the battleground states. Trump told Fox News Digital he would accept Biden's debate challenge.
"Crooked Joe Biden is the worst debater I have ever faced — he can't put two sentences together," Trump said. "Crooked is also the worst president in the history of the United States, by far."
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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