Fox anchors: What to expect fromfirst debate
CLEVELAND— PresidentDonald Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden square off in the first presidential debate Tuesday at 9 p.m. at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic.
“Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace will serve as moderator. On Sunday, Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum arrive in Cleveland to host a live special on Fox News at 10 p.m. previewing the debate with Wallace.
“We look forward to getting back to Cleveland,” says Baier, the network’s chief political anchor and host of “SpecialReport” weeknights at 6 p.m. “I’ve been there many times through elections past and Ohio, once again, is a crucial state as always.”
“It’s interesting that according to the polls, there are a lot of people who say they aren’t going to be swayed by these debates,” adds MacCallum, who anchors “The Story” weeknights at 7. “But it can happen and there can be a pivotal moment that changes theway someone perceives one or both of these candidates. That’s what we’ll all be watching for.”
We spoke with Baier and MacCallum about what to expect at the debate.
The interviews have been combined and edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Chris Wallace and Fox News were left out of the Democratic primary debates because the DNC believedthe network favored the president. But Trump made the opposite claim, saying on Fox News Radio Thursday he thought Wallace would be “unfair” to him. What should viewers
expect fromthe moderator Tuesday night?
MacCallum: ChrisWallace is the best and he has been hunkered down and preparing. There are always efforts on the part of either side to try to throw people off, but I don’t think that’s going to get anywhere with Chris. He’s going to be completely straightforward. His questions will be fact-based and he’ll hold people to their records, things they said in the past, and things they’re saying nowso the American voter can get a good sense of where these two candidates stand.
Q: Bret, you were one of the moderators of President Trump’s first debate as a candidate in Cleveland in 2015. Howmuch of a challenge is it going to be forWallace to get Trump in particular, and Biden, too, to stick to the rules and the facts?
Baier: I think it’s going to be a challenge. I think Chris is up to the task. He’s done this many times, but I do think it’ll be a challenge. Both of them have a way
about them. They either answer what they want to answer or they continue to talk. That’s always the challenge for a moderator, but I think it’s going to be fascinating to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised if the broadcast gets Super Bowl kind of numbers.
Q: The topics covered in the debate will be: the candidates’ records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, racial injustice and protests, and the integrity of the election. Do these topics give either candidate an advantage?
MacCallum: I think they’re right on. These are the hottest topics on the minds of most Americans. I don’t think they give either ofthemanadvantage. I think you’ll see Joe Biden put a lot of emphasis on the handling of COVID-19. Polls across the country show many states thinkBidenwouldhandlethe virus better than President Trump has. So, he’s going to try to keep coming back to that issue. It’s a strong issue for him. For President
Trump, the stronger issue is the economy. People think he’s better equipped to bring us out of this and there’s some data that proves that hasbeguntohappen. There’s a lot on the record for both of them that Chris will have right at his fingertips.
Q: What about the topics that weren’t selected, such as health care, foreign policy, immigration, climate change, or character? Does the omission of any of these issues benefit either candidate?
Baier: The topics Chris chose enable a lot of flexibility and that’s what we’ve seen in past debates. One of the topics is record and that opens the door to a lot of possible questions. Climate change could fit in there. There’s a lot of leeway. If I know Chris, he’s going to have the waterfront covered. The best debate moderators, and Chris is very good at this, are the oneswho get the candidates really talking to each other, at each other, and reacting. Because that’s what a debate is. It’s not a townhall. It’s not aQ&A. It’s an interaction between the two candidates. That’swhat [the late PBS newsman] Jim Lehrer was excellent at and Chris did a fantastic job the last time [in 2016].
Q: Martha, you moderatedthe earlyRepublicanprimary debate in Cleveland in 2015 and have hosted town halls with Democratic candidates. If youweremoderating this debate and it was tonight, what would your first question be?
MacCallum: I think the two biggest issues right now are the Supreme Court and the election in terms of how each side is going to handle what happens on election night and after that. Iwould go straight to the heart of the SupremeCourt issue and ask the president to defend the decision to fill the seat now and then hold Biden to the fire by askingwhat hewould do if he were in that same position.
Q: To follow up on that point, which side is more energized by the Supreme Court vacancy? Trump voterswhowant to see him get a nominee through or Biden voterswhowant to stop the president?
MacCallum: I think it cuts both ways. This is an issue that will energize voters on the right and the left. But I think for Trump’s supporters, the Supreme Court was a very big issue the last time around and he leaned into it hard. I actually went back and watched ChrisWallace’s first debate from the last cycle in2016. Itwas interesting tomebecause the first question out of the gatewas about the Supreme Court — what kind of judges would you choose, what do you look for in a judge. And the second question was about accepting the results of the election. So, I thought itwas quite striking that Chris’s first question last time around and this time around, I think, will be focused on these two topics.
Q: Let’s talk about strategy. Bret, I’m going to put you in the shoes of the president. If you’re Donald Trump, what is your No. 1 objective Tuesday?
Baier: Make it look like you have a grasp of every topicwhile Joe Biden is struggling to seal the deal, land a punch, or stick the landing. For President Trump, the challenge is thathe has spent a lot of time talking down Joe Biden, saying he’s lost it, he’s not with it, he’s not in primetime. The campaign has been trying to change that in recent days, but if Biden shows up and performs, it’s a low bar.
Q: On the flip side, what’s the one thing the president needs to avoid doing at all costs?
Baier: Getting angry or coming off as going after either ChrisWallace or Biden in a way that doesn’t make him look good. I assume there’s going to be a lot of real- time pushback, both from Biden and Chris if the president says things that are demonstrably not true. We’ll see how he handles that.
Q: Martha, you get to play Joe Biden. What is your No. 1 objective Tuesday?
MacCallum: He has to prove that he’s facile, can think quickly on his feet, and dispel the notions that have been out there. That’s number one.
The debate airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. and can be watched on the major broadcast and cable news networks includingABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox, Fox News, and MSNBC. The debate can also be streamed live on those networks’ streaming platforms and YouTube.
Lake Huron where he won in 2016, after Obama had carried Bay County twice.
Likewise, Trump has lost support inthepopulous suburbs of southeast Wisconsin since 2016, according to the Marquette University Law School poll. And instead, he has been campaigning in blue-collar Oshkosh and the Wausau area, far north of the Republican encircling Milwaukee.
Wisconsin Republicans promoting legislative candidates in typically GOP-leaning suburbs of Ozaukee County north of Milwaukee and Waukesha County to the city’s west warned thismonththat“Republicans should be worried because President Donald Trump is currently under-performing in districts,” according toGOP website rightwisconsin.com.
“It’s a combination of blunting the in the suburbs and juicing the rural areas,” said John Selleck, who ran Romney’s 2012 Michigancampaign.“But can he up suburban votes elsewhere?”
That was his formula for winningOhio four years ago. He received the highest or second-highest percent of Republican votes of any candidate since 1980 in 60 of Ohio’s88counties, according to state voting data compiled byMikeDawson, apublicpolicy consultant and creator of ohioelectionresults.com.
While GOP strategists say Trumpcanmake up the suburbanlosseswithnewvoters, Marquette University’s ingdirector Charles Franklin sees no evidence in research tracking Trump’s support this year to suggest newvoters are choosing him.
“He definitely needs to ramp it up and deliver on what the campaign is talking about, big of turnout of Trump voters in regions other than the suburbs,” Franklin said. “It’snot in the polling now.”