President Trump Says He'll Be Watching Democratic Presidential Debates
DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump says he'll be watching the next Democratic presidential debate and predicts Joe Biden will be the likely 2020 presidential nominee for the Democrats.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday before leaving on a trip to Jamestown, Virginia, Trump said he'll be watching as the Democratic candidates square off in Detroit.
Trump took a jab at Biden, saying the former vice president is "off his game by a lot." Trump and Biden have often criticized each other.
Ten Democrats will face off Tuesday night, including two leading progressives in the field, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Ten more candidates, including Biden, will debate on Wednesday night.
The second set of Democratic presidential debates will be a last chance for some 2020 candidates to be considered serious contenders.
The 20 hopefuls will face off Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Detroit. They will have the opportunity to respond to President Donald Trump's recent string of racist and incendiary tweets and comments, but they'll also be under pressure to provide specifics on how they can improve the lives of Americans.
The stakes are high: To qualify for the third set of debates in September, candidates must raise money from more donors and hit higher polling thresholds — a bar more than half of the contenders are at risk of missing.
Those tougher rules set by the Democratic National Committee are expected to winnow the race.
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