Biden: Why I Will Not Debate Trump

Dear Americans, here’s the deal: I will not debate Trump. There is absolutely no good reason to debate him. He lies constantly. He divides the nation. He incites racism. He encourages excessive use of force by the police. He likes dictators and violators of human rights around the globe. He insults our democratic allies. He is a grave danger to our democracy and a grave threat to our national security, whether or not he is in Putin’s pocket, as it seems. He is responsible for the long unending Covid crisis, by not setting the example and wearing a mask from early March. He is responsible for the millions of Covid contagions and thousands of Americans dying of Covid, by discouraging the use of masks and pushing for premature openings. He doesn’t care about American lives! And, he is obstructing justice by hiding his tax records and bank records. As he asked about Hillary and her 30,000 missing emails during the 2016 campaign, “What has she got to hide?”, he must be asked “What have you got to hide, Trump?” He’s even hiding his college transcripts! Did he even graduate? With what grades? There’s a reason why he’s hiding his college records!

I’m also not going to debate Trump because he is a fraud, a disgraceful con man. He’s no self-made man! Without his father’s money, he’d be nothing, nobody. He was not a successful businessman! Successful businessmen don’t have their companies go bankrupt. Various Trump companies went bankrupt. American banks stopped lending to him because he was a terrible credit risk. Successful businessmen are not terrible credit risks. American banks are happy to lend to successful businessmen. Since American banks would no longer lend money to him, the bank Trump found to lend him money was Deutsche Bank, a bank under investigation for money laundering. So, Trump was saved from financial collapse only by shady foreign money through Deutsche Bank. That’s why he’s hiding his tax and bank records, otherwise everyone would see what a fraud he is, how incompetent he is, even possibly a criminal. The only thing con man Trump is good at is fooling naïve Americans. But I can’t believe many Americans will fall for him again.

I’m also not going to share a debate stage with Trump because he is a racist demagogue. Because he adopts slogans of dictators. He calls the mainstream press “the enemy of the people”, a slogan used by Lenin of Communist Russia, and he calls their work “fake news”, a slogan used by Nazi Germany’s Hitler. I’m not going to debate him because he encourages and seeks the support of neo-Nazis and KuKluxKlan members. Trump likes dictators because he wants to be one himself! He’d be happy with a personal Gestapo leading a police state. Just look at what he did at Lafayette Park in Washington DC, sending masked, unidentified violent paramilitaries, even a menacing helicopter, against peaceful protesters! That’s criminal, a violation of the Constitution. Look at what he did to Portland, Oregon, sending masked, unidentified violent paramilitaries in unmarked vans to attack and illegally arrest people on city streets, against the will of Portland’s mayor and Oregon’s governor! That’s illegal, that’s a violation of the Constitution. That’s criminal. That’s an illegal secret police used against the citizens of the United States! That’s fascist, Gestapo tactics! Same for the armed Trumpists in the Michigan State House, probably ordered by Trump. There’s no place for that in a democracy. How come they weren’t immediately arrested? What next? Trump will order armed Trumpists to occupy the halls of Congress and voting stations?

It seems Trump is preparing a paramilitary coup d’état to take place before the November election, since the polls show he’d lose in a landslide! Trump should be impeached and removed from office immediately! He is a dire threat to our democracy and human rights. We fought Nazi Germany in World War II in order to end up with a fascist president? We had a 50-year Cold War with totalitarian communist Russia just to end up with a president who loves a former KGB leader, possibly taking orders from him and directions on how to stage a coup?

I’m also not going to share a debate stage with Trump because of his immoral, heartless, shocking treatment of detained immigrants. He put children, women, and elderly people in cages! He separated children from their parents, just like the Nazis did at Auschwitz! Incredibly, many Christians are for Trump. How can any Christians support such a hypocrite, such a fraud, such a monstrous man? How can any Christians think Jesus would approve of Donald Trump? Jesus condemns all hypocrites and all those who follow and support hypocrites. The way to deal with illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America is to have all asylum requests made in our consulates in those nations, not at our border. That avoids all detention camps. And if we really care about the desperate poverty of those illegal immigrants, we should create a major Peace Corps program for those developing nations, creating and staffing schools, medical clinics, and developing necessary infrastructure. Then those nations will become socially and economically prosperous and become great trading partners. There will no longer be any illegal immigration problem.

Many Christians look past Trump’s execrable, non-Christian behavior because he appoints conservative judges who are against abortion, and because he backs politicians who will try to make abortion illegal. But to be truly Christian is not to make abortions illegal, since they will then happen anyway, as they always have when abortions were illegal. To be truly Christian is to endorse programs to prevent unwanted pregnancies! That is the only way to prevent abortions, legal or illegal. So, it is hypocritical to fixate on making abortions illegal. I’ve never heard of Christian efforts to reduce unwanted pregnancies. How is that in any way Christian?

I’m also not going to share a debate stage with Trump because he insults our military leaders and he scandalously insulted John McCain for having been a prisoner of war, while he, Trump, was a draft dodger. He’s a hypocrite, he’s immoral, he’s unpatriotic, he’s a disgrace to the nation. So is the sycophantic Republican Party which stands with him. Unbelievable!

I’m also not going to debate Trump because he asked Russia for help during the 2016 campaign. “Russia, if you’re listening…” That was a disgrace, that was betraying your own country, asking for help from a nation led by the same people who led the Soviet Union, enemies of democracy and human rights. What type of American would support such a betrayer of our values? What type of American can accept a president who likes dictators and asks for their help? I think he’s “owned” by Russia, because he owes them money and has received their help in winning the 2016 election. I find Trump disgraceful and traitorous. He has hoodwinked many Americans into believing his lies. He’s a master at duping naïve people.

I’m not sharing a debate stage with Trump because he doesn’t deserve to be in a presidential debate. I’m not giving that lying fraudster free airtime with a debate so that he can lie, fabricate, spin, and insult. Trump is a national disgrace. He is a national security risk. He desperately wants to remain president because he knows the moment he is no longer president, he will be indicted and convicted on grounds established by the Mueller Report. He actually should be indicted now, while he is still president. But Attorney General Barr is protecting him by illegally enforcing the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel rule against indicting sitting presidents. That rule is invalid, unconstitutional, corrupt, and fraudulent, ordered by Richard Nixon to protect himself as Watergate was unfolding, knowing full well that it was indeed constitutional to indict sitting presidents. Since Nixon resigned before being indicted, that rule was never tested for constitutionality or legality by any federal judge or the Supreme Court. There is no way that OLC rule is valid. It is not a law. It is only Nixon’s rule, an invalid rule which must be eliminated. Barr knows all that. But he’s a Trump man. By enforcing Nixon’s corrupt, unconstitutional OLC rule, Barr is obstructing justice.

My fellow Americans, we need crushing polls against Trump in the months leading up to the November 3 election. That’s the best way to prevent Trump from saying the landslide vote against him was rigged. We know that’s what Trump will try to convince his followers. Meanwhile, he’ll try to paint me as a socialist, which I am not. Yes, my priority is to eliminate poverty, racism, discrimination, abuse, all forms of violence, police brutality, addiction, widespread psychological problems (the main cause of gun violence and police brutality), many grossly inadequate public schools, educational disparity, high school dropouts, and other social problems. But that does not make me a socialist! That makes me an enlightened and moral presidential candidate. I’ll solve our deep social problems with QE financed programs, not through higher taxes. I’m a believer in free market capitalism. I won’t kill the goose which lays the golden eggs. I’m not going to raise taxes, they’re already too high. In fact, I’ll eliminate capital gains taxes which are economically counterproductive and unfair to everybody. But I will eliminate tax shelters, which unfairly benefit the ultra-rich, apart from being economically counterproductive by severely misallocating investment. So, the truth is I’m an enlightened capitalist who knows how to bring about economic and social prosperity. I’ll give you the details of my innovative social solution programs next month. The programs we’ve had for decades don’t work.

Here’s the deal: The first thing I will do as president is have Congress pass a law which eliminates that OLC rule and asserts that sitting presidents can be indicted, which is no more distracting than impeachment, and asserts that they are not above the law. I will also have Congress pass a law that severely punishes any Attorney General who obstructs justice, who does not recuse himself from any matters regarding the president who appointed him, and any other matters where there is a conflict of interest, even the slightest. I will also have a law passed that allows any federal prosecutor to indict the Attorney General for cause. I’ll also have Congress pass a law requiring all political candidates to publicly release ten years of their taxes and bank records, and their university transcripts.

I will publicly release my 10-year tax and bank records before the end of August, and I challenge Trump to do the same. If he wants a debate, I’ll agree to one despite my reservations, but only if he publicly releases his tax and bank records along with his college transcripts by the end of August. If Trump refuses, it’s a clear admission of guilt. Not one smart, moral, patriotic American will vote for him. This is not a matter of partisan politics. It’s a matter of morality and patriotism. Trump, are you going to accept the challenge, or are you going to continue hiding your tax and bank records and college transcripts because they are damning? What do you have to hide? You owe the country an answer.

Remember this, Donald Trump. There was “Tricky Dick Nixon”, but you’re much worse, you’re “Lyin’ Donald” and “Dirty Donald”! Maybe even, God forbid, “Traitor Donald”! If you try to interfere with our elections, including voter suppression, if you again ask for foreign help, and if, God forbid, you don’t accept the election results and succeed in becoming a de facto dictator, you’d be by far the worst traitor and the biggest villain the country has ever had. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was a “day of infamy”. But your undermining our fundamental values of democracy, human rights, and fair play is much worse. You betray all those Americans who died fighting against Nazi Germany in order to defend democracy and human rights in the world. And you betray all of America’s sacrifices during the 50-year Cold War against dictatorial communist Russia to defend not just democracy and human rights, but free markets and free enterprise capitalism.

Donald Trump, don’t let yourself be tempted to do the most dastardly thing imaginable, destroying American democracy and human rights in order to avoid being held accountable for your egregious misbehavior. You still have a chance to redeem yourself. Do it. Confess to America your sins. Apologize sincerely. Resign before the election. Don’t seek a pardon. Heal yourself. You’re the “sick puppy”, you’re a sore loser, so go to a good psychoanalyst, get cured, and become the good person you could be. Stop dragging the country down with you. Be a patriot, for once.

Sincerely,

Joe Biden

© Edward Sonnino 2020

July 17, 2020