(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Trump's team tries to work the refs before the debate [1] ['Daily Kos Staff'] Date: 2024-06-25 Donald Trump’s campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt was booted from CNN on Monday after host Kasie Hunt repeatedly tried to get her to answer questions rather than just slamming the moderators of the upcoming presidential debate. Leavitt ignored Hunt’s warnings as she insisted that Trump was “going into a hostile environment” and that moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash were biased. After Hunt tossed her from “CNN This Morning,” Leavitt headed for Steve Bannon’s “War Room” program on the MAGA-extremist Real America's Voice news network. Bannon, who is still hoping that the Supreme Court will save him before he has to show up at federal prison this upcoming Monday, reiterated her claims that CNN was biased and insisted that Leavitt was owed an apology. But it’s how he said it that’s most interesting. “CNN owes you an apology today,” Bannon told Leavitt. “And if we don’t get that apology to Karoline Leavitt, and to the Trump campaign today, and to MAGA, President Trump should cancel this [debate].” Trump hasn’t canceled, but he might. It’s all part of him trying to game the system. On Tuesday, Axios reports that Trump and his supporters are not “working the refs” by attacking CNN but are instead trying to “set expectations.” This represents a very bad understanding of what working the refs means. Basketball coaches don’t rush onto the floor, get into the referee’s face, and praise them for making a perfect call. They stomp their feet, throw up their hands, and scream that the refs got it wrong. The idea is to convince the refs that they have been displaying bias. Or have at least appeared to be biased. That’s how coaches get those refs to think twice about making the next call against their team. Complaining and attacking are attempts to work the refs. In this case, by floating claims that Tapper and Bash are anti-Trump, his campaign hopes to inspire them to add more softballs to Trump’s debate questions. Or maybe remove one that might be seen as too challenging. Of course, Trump isn’t just working the refs. He’s also creating a narrative for both his fans and undecided voters. In this case, Leavitt’s attack and Bannon’s playacting at being so, so offended are both meant to reinforce the CNN-hates-Trump-and-wants-Biden-to-win. At the same time, Trump continues to issue a call that Biden be tested for nonexistent "performance-enhancing drugs." The claims that Biden has been “jacked up” by some unspecified cocktail of magic pills is getting heavy play on the right. Beyond working the refs, this also expands the narrative that Trump isn't just charging into a lion’s den, he’s also facing off with a drug-enhanced opponent whose abilities are far beyond those of mortal men. All these things are designed to serve Trump in three different circumstances: 1) Trump bows out Considering how bad running away would look, Trump (or his handlers) would have to be terrified that any attempt to handle unscripted questions would be an absolute disaster. This doesn’t seem impossible, considering the recent shark-vs.-battery meltdown when Trump’s teleprompter went on the fritz at a Las Vegas rally. Still, refusing to appear would be such an obvious losing move that it’s hard to believe Trump’s team won’t prod him onto the stage, even if it requires some “Weekend at Bernie’s”-style manipulation. But if he does pull a no-show, every bit of the story—from CNN supposedly insulting Leavitt to Trump’s demands for drug testing—will play into his excuse. 2) Trump loses The most likely outcome of the debate is that Trump comes off as semi-incoherent and wholly incompetent, while Biden hands him his lunch. Then, as it has for nine years running, the media downplays Trump’s wandering into creatures he fears or his thoughts on Taylor Swift all while hyping up any small thing Biden gets wrong. The truth is, Biden is going to fumble things in this debate. Because he does. Because even debate adepts like Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama did. Joe Biden isn’t the sad, dementia-addled figure he’s portrayed as on Fox News. He’s also not the drug-powered superman who certainly haunts Trump’s dreams. No one should be shocked if he gets the dates wrong on some recent events or forgets the name of a foreign leader. But while Biden will make some mistakes, Trump will exaggerate, lie, and make up shit on the spot. And when he’s caught in a lie, he’ll just call everyone else in the room a liar for pointing out his lie. That’s where establishing the narrative of CNN’s bias will help the most. It gives Trump and his associates an excuse. Trump will still claim to have won, of course, but his team will lean heavily on claims about Biden being "jacked up" and CNN's dismiss any moment that seems like less than a MAGA triumph. 3) Trump wins . It’s almost unthinkable that Trump will win the debate, but it’s not impossible. Biden may commit a flub bad enough that it dominates news for the next day or two—or for longer. Think something equivalent to then-President Gerald Ford’s “no Soviet domination” gaffe in his 1976 debate against Jimmy Carter. The truth is, nothing Biden could say will be as bad as what Trump is sure to say. But the media isn’t likely to treat it that way if Biden has a serious brain fart. In that case, both “CNN is biased” and “Biden is jacked up” become part of the “despite” narrative. That’s the one where Trump vanquished his opponent despite having everything stacked against him. Truthfully, Trump doesn’t need to work the refs. As many past debates have proven, mainstream reporters have thoroughly internalized decades of Fox News telling them that they’re skewed to the left. They can be counted on to throw questions to Trump underhanded, and to bring out a tee if even a softball seems too difficult. Biden will have to perform only the equivalent of solving differential calculus. Daily Kos will be providing live coverage of the debate at 9 PM ET on Thursday. That is … if Trump shows up. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/25/2248557/-Trump-s-team-tries-to-work-the-refs-before-the-debate?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_5&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/