House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she doesn't believe there should be any debates between President Trump and Joe Biden because she believes Trump "will probably act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency."
Why it matters: Her statement isn't likely to make the Biden campaign happy, as the Trump campaign has attempted to paint Biden as senile and hoping to avoid a direct confrontation. Biden, however, has repeatedly said that he "can hardly wait" to debate the president.
- The debates have been viewed by the Trump campaign with outsized importance in order to close the polling gap and get Trump within striking distance of Biden by Election Day, writes Axios' Jonathan Swan.
What she's saying: "I don't think there should be any debates. ... I wouldn't legitimize a conversation with him, nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States. Now, I know that the Biden campaign thinks in a different way about this."
- "I think he will also belittle what the debates are supposed to be about. They're not to be about skullduggery on the part of somebody who has no respect for the office he holds — much less the democratic process. Why else would he try to undermine the elections in the manner in which he is doing?"
- "I don't think that he should dignify that conversation with Donald Trump."
Go deeper: Inside Trump's debate prep
