North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, criticized President Biden on Sunday, saying he was “worried” about how he would perform in the upcoming debate.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Burgum said Biden’s campaign is trying to “lower expectations” for Thursday’s debate with former President Trump. Burgum noted that the president has met with 40 governors across the country and suggested there could be two appearances for Biden on the debate stage.
“America is looking at the current state of the states. He stood up and spoke powerfully for over an hour. And when we met with the group of governors in February, we were limited to two questions. One Republican governor and one Democratic governor. … Forty governors asked the president two questions. Questions had to be submitted two days in advance,” he said.
“That’s a long way from being in a debate for 90 minutes, so I think we’re all anxious to see which Joe Biden shows up,” he added.
Biden and Trump will go head-to-head this week in the first 2024 presidential debate, moderated by CNN and hosted by Dana Bash and Jake Tapper. While Burgum criticized Biden, he acknowledged that he has plenty of experience in debates and campaigning.
“He’s run for office over 10 times. He’s run for president four times. He’s been campaigning since Nixon was president. This guy’s got the chops. We’ve seen it. We saw it in the debates four years ago. We saw it in the State of the Union this year. We saw that he can step up when it’s needed,” Burgum said.
“But I think this is a real opportunity for CNN, the most trusted network in news, to ask some tough questions,” he added.
Biden has been preparing for this week’s debate behind closed doors with aides at Camp David, while Trump has been meeting with lawmakers to discuss what policies might emerge. Biden has taken a more formal approach to debate prep, practicing in mock debates while Trump has decided not to participate.
The Hill has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
