It is almost universally accepted that the June 27th presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was an unmitigated disaster for the sitting president. After watching what has been accurately termed a debacle for Joe Biden, I have wondered how and why this event took place when it did.

For some time, Donald Trump said he would debate Joe Biden anytime and anywhere. Conversely, Biden had been more noncommittal, even reticent about getting in the debate ring with Donald Trump. His perceived performance at various events recently has caused many to question the chief executive’s physical and, to a greater extent, mental condition. He often appeared lost when in public appearances, and his ability to answer reporters’ questions appeared impaired on those rare occasions when he did attempt to field their queries.

Presidential debates, dating from the Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960, had always been held later in the season, in September or October. This schedule placed them closer to the election and after both Democrat and Republican nominating conventions. This year, we were presented with a debate early in the election season, predating both nominating conventions. So, how and why did this come to pass?

The circumstances leading up to the early debate included Biden trailing in most polls. He wanted to change that. His re-election staff wished to frame the election as a choice between Biden and Trump -- Mr. Nice Guy versus Hitler reincarnated. Someone in Biden’s inner circle, quite possibly his wife, urged him to announce his willingness to debate the former president.

In May, Biden, clinging to the belief that he had defeated Trump in the 2020 debates, declared he would debate Trump and put the ball in the former president’s court. Biden threw it out as a challenge, a challenge which Trump eagerly and quickly accepted. Now it gets interesting.

Immediately upon hearing of Biden’s challenge, CNN invited the two men to debate in Atlanta on June 27th. Both men accepted the invitation. Why did CNN, a Trump-hating organization to its core, propose a date so early in the electoral season and so quickly after learning of Biden’s willingness to debate? Was it possibly, as some have suggested, to test Biden’s competency, allowing his party a chance to replace him at their convention? Please! This is CNN.

I surmise that the network, in an act of corporate media greed, proposed the early debate to ensure they would be the first debate venue. In an attempt to shore up Biden’s chances in November, they would put Trump-hating moderators on the stage as a sure thing difference maker. Machiavelli would have been proud. But it seems their plan has backfired.

Had this first debate been held after the nominating conventions, or even not held at all, Biden, aided by the media, would likely have been able to continue the charade of being up to the job. Now, having been exposed as both mentally and physically challenged before the Democrat convention, it is doubtful he will be the nominee of his party. An increasingly large number of the president’s own party are calling for him to step aside. Even if he goes quietly, which I don’t believe he will, it will still be a disaster for the Democrats.

So it would seem that CNN’s decision to showcase an early debate as a network coup might very well be the act that ensures Donald Trump’s election this November. Had their intentions been pure, we might, as a nation, even thank them. But that is not the case. Their greedy attempt has bitten them in the backside. I can almost hear James Earl Jones’ painful new iteration of the network slogan; “This is CNN?”

Bill Hansmann is a dentist and dental educator with over fifty years in the profession. He continues to teach and write political blogs and semi-mediocre novels while living with his wife and cats in Georgia.

Image: CNN