"The View" co-hosts went back-and forth on Monday over whether President Biden should debate Donald Trump and Sara Haines argued the president could lose the debate if he flubs, but the same was not true for the former president.
Alyssa Farah-Griffin said it was important the two debate, but said real-time fact-checking would be critical. She also said Trump's team would lean-in on the age, mental acuity narrative if Biden didn't debate him.
"I disagree with you, actually," Haines replied. "I say that because normally, my gut would tell me it’s good for democracy. I caveat that with, if we do not know these two men as well as we do, it would be more important for them to be debating," she explained.
"The problem is, for the reasons you just spelled out, Donald Trump comes on and without – I wish they would put him in phone booths and cut mics after a certain amount of time because, in addition to the fact checking, he overtalks, gaslights, and everything else. So oftentimes, the comparison to Donald Trump makes anyone look less-than on some level," Haines said.
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She said she didn't think Biden needed to debate because Trump has "done nothing to participate in this democracy since he lost."
Co-host Joy Behar argued that presidential debates haven't had much influence on elections and said it was just going to be a replay of 2020.
"I don't need to see someone who has been twice-impeached and is a disgrace and a one-term president with 91 counts facing him. I think it legitimizes him, I don’t need to be gaslit by Trump. We all know who he is. We know what he stands for, we also know that Biden debated him twice and just, like, sort of mopped the floor with him," co-host Sunny Hostin said. "I don’t think you give him that type of platform."
Griffin argued again that Americans needed to see Biden and Trump go head-to-head.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg said everyone in the country knows who Trump is.
"What I do know is Joe can stand there and tell people everything he’s done, and he can do it until the cows come home, you know?" she said. "It's not going to matter."
Griffin chimed in again and made the case for "homeless Republicans" who want to hear answers on policy.
Haines warned that, "Biden can lose, he can lose in a debate. Trump will not. The people supporting Trump will support him whether he’s there or not. Biden makes one mistake, and the people who are undecided are out."
Behar also suggested a Biden flub could hurt him, but a Trump flub wouldn't affect the former president's standing.
Trump challenged Biden to a debate during a radio interview. "I’d like to debate him now because we should debate. We should debate for the good of the country," Trump said.
Biden was asked about Trump's comments later that day while campaigning in Nevada.
"Immediately? Well, if I were him, I’d want to debate me, too. He’s got nothing else to do," Biden told reporters.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
