Presidential Debate Props: Will Joe Biden Call Donald Trump a Liar?

The 2020 presidential election is just over a month away. You know what that means, right? Well, a lot of things, but we’re going to see quite a few debates over the next few weeks.

There are currently three presidential debates on the schedule, as well as a vice presidential debate. The first presidential version takes place on Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace has been tapped to moderate what promises to be a wild and generally unpredictable duel between a pair of unique presidential candidates.

The debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton four years ago often got testy. With the way things are even more polarized, we can pretty safely expect more than our fair share of heated exchanges on the debate stage tomorrow night.

MyBookie has a number of prop bets tied to what both candidates may say during the festivities in Ohio. The debate probably won’t sway your decision with regard to who you’ll be voting for in November, but one way to make the viewing experience a more rewarding one is by placing a few prop bets on the action. The last four-plus years have shown us that anything can happen in the world of modern American politics. Some things that didn’t seem remotely possible as recently as 2016 have suddenly become our everyday realities.

That should make Tuesday’s presidential debate must-see TV. How should you approach MyBookie’s political props?

Will Donald Trump Say “Sleepy Joe?”

• Yes (+100)
• No (-140)

Donald Trump likes to tweet. One of the president’s calling cards since entering the world of politics is to give his political rivals unflattering nicknames. You all remember “Crooked Hillary,” of course. “Crazy Bernie” Sanders and Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren are common nicknames POTUS has utilized both during speeches and on his preferred social media platform.

Trump hasn’t had quite as easy a time coming up with a catchy derogatory nickname for Joe Biden. The president has apparently decided that “Sleepy Joe” is his best effort, which is a nod to Biden’s advanced age and Trump’s narrative that Biden just isn’t physically or mentally up to the task at this point in his life. Never mind that Biden is only three years older than Trump, of course.

While I travel the Country, Joe sleeps in his basement, telling the Fake News Media to “get lost”. If you’re a reporter covering Sleepy Joe, you have basically gone into retirement!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2020

While Biden has reportedly taken a couple of days off the campaign trail in order to prepare for the debate, Trump has done no such thing. Trump famously declined to prepare for the debates in 2016 against Clinton, as well. While pundits said that Clinton routinely clowned him on the debate stage, that obviously didn’t wind up hurting Trump’s chances with the general electorate.

The lack of debate prep likely means we’re in for another night full of ad hominem attacks from Trump to his opponent. One would imagine he’s going to spend the most of his time trying to deride Biden, and it would be quite the surprise if he didn’t utter “Sleepy Joe” at one point over the course of the night. Take the even-money odds on “yes” at +100 here.

Will Joe Biden Publicly Respond to Joe Rogan’s Debate Offer?

• Yes to Debate Offer (+100)
• No to Debate Offer (-140)

There are currently three debates on the schedule between now and November 3. However, comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan has publicly offered to moderate a fourth debate between the candidates. There is even a petition on change.org to add a fourth debate that has already attracted nearly 282,000 signatures as of this writing.

Debate moderators are almost always people from the news media. Jim Lehrer moderated several debates over the years. After Wallace gets the first debate, CSPAN’s Steve Scully will moderate the second on October 15. On October 22, NBC’s Kristen Welker will ask the questions.

I just don’t really see how this topic is going to come up during the debate. Wallace has already laid out the topics he plans to cover, and I doubt he’s going to want to spend time on something as pointless as this. I don’t think Biden would really be inclined to accept, even if Trump were to bring it up himself.

Will Trump Say “QAnon?”

• Yes (+300)
• No (-500)

For those unfamiliar, QAnon is the internet-based conspiracy theory that claims a group of government officials and Hollywood elites have joined forces to run the world, and they also operate a gigantic human trafficking ring on the side. The theory claims that Trump is secretly working to thwart those efforts. This, of course, is insane.

Conspiracy theories around the “deep state,” billionaire Democrat philanthropist George Soros and QAnon have become a constant fixture on Spanish-language YouTube programs, WhatsApp clips and pro-President Trump Facebook groups aimed at a Latino audience. https://t.co/N3oilvD6ab

— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 22, 2020

However, a number of “Q” believers have voiced their support for Trump’s re-election. Some have even launched their own successful congressional campaigns over the past couple of years. Trump was asked at a recent news conference whether he condemns QAnon, but he declined and instead said that he doesn’t know much about it. He added that he understands he has some supporters within the group, which he’s okay with.

The FBI has labeled QAnon as a domestic terror threat, so this is probably something the president shouldn’t be supporting. Norms don’t apply to the current president, of course. Trump didn’t say the word when he was asked about it at the aforementioned news conference, so I’m skeptical that he would say it on Tuesday night, even if he does get asked the same question.

Will Biden Call Trump a Racist?

• Yes (+170)
• No (-250)

Trump has a checkered history when it comes to race relations, to say the least. In fact, his political career was essentially launched when he spearheaded the birther conspiracy about President Obama.

Since then, Trump has been called a racist constantly. Sanders, Warren, and others went so far as to say it directly during debates back during the Democratic presidential primaries. However, Biden has a reputation for being a bit more soft-spoken, and he’s certainly not as willing to launch a direct attack as Trump is.

Biden, who is the current favorite to win the election, may be willing to say Trump is a racist during interviews or campaign speeches, but it’s hard to imagine the ex-VP taking that step right in front of Trump’s face on the debate stage. Biden may dance around the idea and lay-out a path for viewers to draw their own conclusions, but I can’t imagine Biden will actually be that direct.

Will Trump Say “Anarchists?”

• Yes (-700)
• No (+400)

At this point, the crux of Trump’s re-election campaign is that the country will descend into absolute chaos if he doesn’t retain his spot in the White House. Trump and his administration have repeatedly attacked the social justice protests that have been taking place all over the US since George Floyd’s death in May.

While most of the protests have been peaceful, some of them have been upended and overshadowed by violence, property damage, and the occasional looting. Trump and his allies have really seized on those stories to try and make it seem as though these kinds of things will happen 24/7 if Biden wins the election. Trump and his Justice Department have even gone as far as to label certain major American cities as “anarchist jurisdictions.”

BREAKING: The Department of Justice has designated Portland, Seattle, and New York City as “anarchist jurisdictions.”

Federal funds to be withdrawn by Trump administration.

AG Barr: “Reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government”

— Tax Ninja Poso (@JackPosobiec) September 21, 2020

Trump constantly laments the “Democrat-run” cities in which these protests take place. I suppose we’re just supposed to ignore the fact that he’s literally the president while all of this is going on. Trump has repeatedly referred to the protestors as “anarchists.” We know he really likes to repeat himself with certain buzz words, and “anarchists” has certainly entered his lexicon.

“Yes” is easy money here.

Will Biden Say “Very Fine People?”

• Yes (+120)
• No (-160)

Back in 2017, Trump infamously said that there were “very fine people on both sides” of a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. A counter-protestor wound up getting killed by one of the white supremacists, and Trump’s disastrous press conference afterward did him absolutely no favors.

Trump’s “very fine people” comment has been cited constantly by his political opponents in the years since, and Biden has said it himself time and time again. This is reportedly what ultimately convinced Biden to run for president again.

Race relations will almost surely come up on Tuesday night, and I don’t think Biden will miss the opportunity to attack Trump on the topic.

Will Trump Say “Law and Order?”

• Yes (-1100)
• No (+550)

Again, Trump has decided to run on a “law and order” platform, even if that mantra doesn’t necessarily apply to his own personal dealings. It sounds authoritative, which is what he’s going for. He thinks hitting Democrats on the riots is his easiest path to victory, so he’ll certainly say the phrase at least once over the course of the night.

Will Biden Mention Bob Woodward?

• Yes (+100)
• No (-140)

Earlier this month, veteran reporter Bob Woodward released a series of audio tapes of his conversations with the president ahead of the release of his new book. Woodward and Trump discussed a variety of issues, including the public health crisis currently sweeping the country.

Bob Woodward on President Trump: “He failed himself, he failed the country, he failed the Republican Party, he failed the concept of the office of the president.”https://t.co/p9mGoYn7CC

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 20, 2020

Trump said a number of controversial things in the tape, most notably that he wanted to “play down” the pandemic so as to not cause a panic among the public. Trump recently denied that he tried to play it down, even though you can literally hear him say it verbatim on the recording. This is the kind of contradiction that Biden will surely try to hammer Trump with, so I do think the former VP will mention Woodward by name.

Will Trump Mention Biden’s Basement?

• Yes (-160)
• No (+120)

As a result of the pandemic, Biden has spent much of his campaign this year in his home state of Delaware. Biden has conducted a number of campaign speeches from his own house. As a 77-year-old, it makes plenty of sense that he wouldn’t have been going out and meeting with huge crowds of people amid a deadly virus.

Biden has since started to branch out, but a common refrain among Trump and his surrogates is that Biden has been hiding in his “basement” the whole time. While this seems like an attack, it’s almost surely borne out of frustration. Biden hasn’t been out and about as often, so he hasn’t really been out there making mistakes.

Trump will likely bring up Biden’s basement in order to question Biden’s fitness for the White House, or as a way of trying to suggest that Biden is trying to dodge questions about his long political track record.

Will Biden Call Trump a Liar?

• Yes (-300)
• No (+200)

Candidates use debates to sell their own agendas to the electorate while also trying to cast doubt on their opponents. We can be sure Tuesday’s event will be pretty ugly considering Trump is involved.

Trump and the truth haven’t always gone hand-in-hand during his time in office. Biden, of course, will try and use that lack of honesty to his advantage. Trump and his supporters have scoffed at the notion that he is dishonest, but there is a whole lot of evidence out there to the contrary. Biden would obviously be remiss to ignore it.

Fox News Sunday anchor and moderator Chris Wallace will not be tasked with fact-checking the candidates in real-time during the presidential debate Tuesday https://t.co/YpdnY5bOuS

— CNN (@CNN) September 28, 2020

Wallace has said that he won’t serve as the fact-checker during the debate, so Biden may have to take matters into his own hands if the president gets a little loose with the facts.

Calling Trump a liar to his face isn’t quite as inflammatory as calling him a racist, so I do think Biden will go there.