Pelosi doubles down on saying Biden should not debate Trump ahead of 2020 election: 'He doesn’t tell the truth'
‘Not that I don’t think [Mr Biden] would be excellent, I just think that the president has no fidelity to fact or truth’
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has once again said she does not think former Vice President Joe Biden should debate President Donald Trump ahead of the November election, telling CBS on Friday morning: “Why bother? He [Trump] doesn’t tell the truth.”
The Democratic leader weighed into the race this week after having already previously said she was against the former vice president debating Mr Trump.
The House speaker has been an outspoken critic of the president, warning Americans to “ignore the lies” and “insist on the truth” as he began leading White House coronavirus press briefings earlier this year.
On Friday, she reignited those calls while slamming the president in an interview with Gayle King.
“Not that I don’t think [Mr Biden] would be excellent, I just think that the president has no fidelity to fact or truth, and actually in his comments the last few days, no fidelity to the Constitution of the United States,” she said. “He and his henchmen are a danger, but their comments are a danger to our democracy.”
She added: “Why bother? He doesn’t tell the truth, he isn’t committed to our constitution.”
Mr Biden has made clear that he intends to debate Mr Trump, with an already-scheduled event planned for early next month between the two nominees. Their running mates were also scheduled to participate in a live debate in mid-October.
The House Speaker has rejected the idea of the Democratic nominee taking on the president in a debate, saying in August during her weekly news conference that Mr Biden should avoid attempts to “legitimize” Mr Trump.
“Don’t tell anybody I told you this. Especially don’t tell Joe Biden. I don’t think that there should be any debates,”Ms Pelosi told the crowd of reporters. “I do not think that the president of the United States has comported himself in a way … that has any association with truth, evidence, data and facts.”
Instead, Ms Pelosi has suggested both candidates “just take their own stage for any number of conversations” on any subject.
“Let that be a conversation with the American people,” she said at the time, “not an exercise in skulduggery.”
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