Looking ahead to the presidential debate between Biden and Trump

OTR: Looking ahead to the 2024 presidential debate between Biden and Trump

Updated: May 19, 2024 1:40pm EDT

round table. Joining me this morning is Democratic political analyst Marianne Marsh and Republican political analyst Rob Gray. As always, it's great to see you both. Okay. Let's start with the push and pull of Karen Spilka and Beacon Hill. What's your point? Well, the big news is that there will be federal funds available for Massachusetts for immigration. I don't know how much. We don't know how much, but that's news. I think we have some welcome news for everyone in Massachusetts. Given how many immigrants come to Massachusetts, the effort to take care of the immigrants who come here and do the right thing and do the work was discussed many times on this show. But it's expensive. Many of us, myself included, thought it wouldn't happen until after the election, when the Democrats won. There may be money. It will be interesting to see not just the amount, but how she misused Governor Healey's real estate transfer tax. This is interesting. I thought maybe she was up for it, but that wasn't the case. Do you think that $1 million bar is too low for many members of Congress? That means nearly every household in the Boston metropolitan area is approaching or reaching that amount these days. I think so, but I think it's a bad idea on every level. Why do we need new taxes to finance housing? Okay. Let's move on to presidential politics. The date is in the record. President Biden and former President Trump are scheduled to hold two debates in the coming months. June and September. CNN and ABC, no studio audience. Rob, are you surprised? And are either candidates taking greater risks? First of all, we should have had the discussion sooner. I think this is a good thing. His 69% of voters in the 2020 presidential election cast their votes before Election Day. Therefore, we will have to take up these discussions later. And the debate committee was stuck in old power relations. Yeah, but I think Biden is doing it because he doesn't want to participate. Ah, the first George Bush, Jimmy Carter, or Gerald Ford. And being a sitting president, an underdog, going into the first debate, and losing the election, that's how he's trying to shake up the power by challenging Trump this early. Marianne, you're really smart to do it so quickly. sorry. And the fact is, by doing that in June, we're telling the American people, “Here's the ticket.'' You choose. Donald Trump doesn't want to be in this race. Joe Biden is in this race. I can't ignore it anymore. Now you have to make a choice. That first debate did just that, putting Donald Trump back in the minds of American voters who have been trying to ignore him for the past four years. That's really smart. And it comes when you have enough time to grow and use it all, if you do it right. However, if it does not work out, you can wash it off on his 4th holiday in July or on September 1st. Rob is absolutely right. It must be completed before early voting begins. It starts earlier and earlier. Now that I think about it, the bar has been set so low for Biden that I think he will clear it no matter what. That's an advantage for Biden. Given Biden's aging age, this is an extremely dangerous move. It's okay to pass by. However, there are many arguments for this argument. Many people will be watching his performance in 2020. He accomplished that with his State of the Union address. Trump is even helping him by bashing him. Please continue I agree. Okay. Speaking of President Biden, we're visiting New Hampshire this weekend. On his way there, he plans to stop in Massachusetts to raise money and shore up his campaign spoils. Does that have anything to do with his approval? Well, this week he was leaning on the scales here for Leominster Disaster Relief. And after severe flooding last September, FEMA denied federal aid to the Attleboro area. The White House reversed that. Well, who gets the credit here, Marianne? Was it the Congressional delegation? Was it Beacon Hill or was it the Governor? Was it divine intervention that led Maura Healy to sit next to Dean Criswell with the Pope in the Vatican? Has such a thing ever happened? I think everyone gets more credit here. Haley, the entire Congressional delegation, and Joe Biden. It's always good to make up for mistakes. That was a big mistake. Rob. So a big part of the reason the White House Political Bureau exists is to soften the political beachhead. when visiting somewhere. So, um, no questions asked, our delegation and the governor support this. But Biden is also smart about politics. Yeah, I mean, we often see large-scale disaster declarations like this in other parts of the country where our company is located. Fortunately, we generally don't have that problem here in New England. But when that happens, it's good to have some support. right? It's the same thing you were at Leominster. Heck, it was comparable to a hurricane-tornado disaster with a foot of rain. right? right. The first decision came as a surprise. Yeah. Okay. House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was his idea to go to New York last week to support former President Donald Trump's hush money trial. He was joined by a growing cast of Republican Trump supporters. Johnson called the trial an illegal fraud, a farce, and corrupt. What does that say when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who is second-in-command in the presidential election, can effectively destroy this country's judicial system? Rob, that's right. A bad look on Johnson's part, but this is the most frivolous of the lawsuits against Trump. Many of them are more serious, but this incident appears to be a political issue. Let me explain a little bit about why that's important. And for Johnson, it's good politics because he needs Trump to keep the house running. So he basically has to kiss to play cards a little bit. And Johnson, along with Trump's base, will use it to raise money to help Republicans maintain power in the chamber and allow him to remain in power as speaker. However, there is mistrust within the system. Like I said, it doesn't look good on him. If so. But the politics of IT are good for him. Marianne, what do you think? He is trying to destroy our democracy. I don't know how serious this is. Everyone laughed at it and thought it was funny. No, no, no, he was not only second-in-command to the presidency, but also one of his architects of January 6th. And, oh, by the way, will oversee the certification of his 2024 election in the House of Representatives. He is now destroying, dismantling, and eliminating the third branch of government, the judiciary, illegal, corrupt, and otherwise. I don't know how much of a threat this is. This is a coup that is slowly unfolding before our eyes. No one takes it seriously.They are trying to kill democracy before and after the election.