The first and perhaps only presidential debate between presumed nominees Donald Trump and Joe Biden takes place on June 27 in CNN’s Atlanta headquarters. Home court advantage goes to President Biden.

Is there anyone at CNN, aside from the janitors and cleaning crew, that support Trump? Doubtful. The debate will be moderated by the Trump hating undynamic duo of Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

CNN will mute the microphones, to keep Trump from objecting to Biden’s fabrications, and likely to silence Biden’s gibberish, something occurring with increasing frequency.

No live audience will watch the debates, which will run 90 minutes, two commercial breaks, time for Biden to get a shot of vitamins, stimulants, or whatever keeps him awake and coherent for brief stretches of time.

“CNN said they won't be allowed to use any props or pre-written notes but will be given paper, a pen and water.”

This gives Biden an advantage as he won’t read instructions like “pause” off the teleprompter.

If Biden is juiced up and can speak in coherent sentences, he will win since expectations for his performance are so low.

According to a JL Partners poll, “Half of voters expect Biden to forget where he is during first debate in Atlanta and walk off the wrong side of the stage.”

For Trump, if he keeps his cool and acts “presidential”, whatever that means, this will go a long way in assuaging potential voters who like his policies but have their noses out of joint over his brash personality, mean tweets, and name calling.

Trump certainly has the issues on his side and if he can channel a Reagan-esque demeanor for 90 minutes, he will win, regardless of whether Biden mumbles incoherently, shakes hands with an imaginary person on stage, talks about his uncle being eaten by cannibals, or simply zones out with a blank stare.

For those in the Democrat establishment nudging Biden toward retirement in a nursing home or memory care center, screwing with his vitamin and supplement cocktail, giving him a Tic Tac rather than Adderall, might provide a debate performance worthy of the 25th Amendment.

Hillary Clinton need not send her suicide squad out to create a vacancy on the top of the ticket, simply messing with his meds would accomplish the same thing. Rumblings on the street are that she is champing at the bit for a rematch against Trump.

Trump can really win the debate bigly by asking the question Ronald Reagan asked the hapless Jimmy Carter during a 1980 presidential debate, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

Screen shot from The Last Refuge // by permission

This question is more relevant in this election than any other as both candidates have served a term as POTUS. They have records to run on.

This would be a more difficult question asked by Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley as conditions four years ago had nothing to do with them. But with Trump, those conditions were his, as he was president at the time.

RNC Research on Twitter, offered this quick summary,

WHEN PRESIDENT TRUMP LEFT OFFICE:

— Inflation was at 1.4%.

— The southern border was SECURE.

— Gas averaged $2.39/gallon.

— The average 30-yr mortgage rate was ~2.7%.

— The world was at PEACE.

Let’s unpack this, looking at what these metrics were like four years ago.

In May 2020, the inflation rate was 0.1%. In May 2024, four years later, the inflation rate was 3.3%, 30 times higher compared to four years ago. Inflation reached a peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

While the inflation rate has come down some, as long as the rate is above zero, prices are going up. Three percent may be lower than 9%, but inflation is cumulative.

Prices are rising faster than incomes and consumers are spending a larger proportion of their incomes for the same products now compared to four years ago.

The media crows about a small drop in the rate of inflation, but prices are continuing their climb, just a bit slower.

What about food prices? New York magazine answers:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of groceries has risen by 25.2 percent since February 2020. According to BLS data, you’d have to go back to the 1970s to see that kind of a jump in so short a time span.

Who was president in the 1970s? Oh, that Jimmy Carter guy who Reagan asked the important question I am suggesting Trump ask.

The Washington Examiner explains this all succinctly:

With prices rising faster than earnings, the average worker’s weekly paycheck buys 4.4% less today than when President Biden took office. Homeownership affordability has plummeted because the monthly mortgage payment on a median-price home has more than doubled. Three-quarters of Americans now view fast food as a luxury they can’t afford. Gasoline prices are up 46%.

Are you better off today compared to four years ago?

On to immigration. Our border has never been totally secure, but there is a huge difference between somewhat secure and wide open.

According to Pew Research, monthly migrant encounters were 16 thousand in April 2020. Almost four years later, that jumped to 250 thousand, a 15-fold increase. This doesn’t include gotaways.

What about the endless stream of murders committed by illegal aliens as in this recent story, “Illegal immigrant from El Salvador charged in rape, killing of Maryland mom of 5.” Expect more and more of these stories.

Here’s a summary from Liberty Daily of the many young women raped and murdered by illegal aliens. Were these daily stories four years ago as they are now?

If Biden and his handlers believe opening the borders to Latin Americans will increase his popularity, he guessed wrong. Newsweek reports, “that a majority of Hispanic people favor the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.”

Next on the list is gas prices. Per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the retail gasoline price was $1.96 per gallon in May 2020 and  $3.73 per gallon in May 2024, four years later, almost twice as expensive.

Home mortgage rates are another metric that is far worse now compared to four years ago.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis explains:

In June 2020, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage average in the US was 3.1% Four years later in June 2024, the rate has jumped to 6.9%, more than double.

Lastly is peace. Trump, in his four year term, did not start any foreign wars. Under Biden we are at war with Russia, via Ukraine. We are funding both sides of a war between Israel and Iran proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. Yemen is attacking Western ships. China hungrily eyes Taiwan. Russian nuclear capable naval vessels are in Cuba. They would not have dared four years ago.

Congress is advancing a bill through committee mandating Selective Service registration, known as the draft, for men and women aged 18 to 24. What are they preparing for?

Going forward at the debate and rallies, Trump should avoid relitigating the 2020 election. A majority of likely voters already believe that cheating affected the outcome, per Rasmussen Reports.

Trump also does not need to highlight Biden’s stumbles and gaffes as these are painfully obvious to anyone exposed to the news.

The critical and deciding issues are primarily economic. The draft is an abstract concept for young people, at least until they are drafted. The media may gaslight the importance of climate change, gender confusion, abortion, and Trump’s nonsensical lawfare convictions, but those issues won’t drive election choices.

As CBS News reports, “Voters in battleground states say the economy is a top issue.” It’s the economy stupid, as James Carville once said. And things are far worse today than four years ago.

Trump and the GOP need to hammer this point home every day until Nov. 5.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brian’s Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, and LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph.