Mike Huckabee Says Debates Will Be ‘Turning Point’ In Presidential Race

In an interview with Fox News broadcast on Friday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said that the debates will be a “turning point” in the 2020 U.S. presidential race.

The two candidates — President Donald Trump and the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden — will not be able to speak onstage until the first debate, given that both parties canceled their conventions citing concerns about public health amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Huckabee, that is why the debates will be a “key turning point” in the race.

“When those two guys are on stage together — I’ve been on stage with Donald Trump in presidential debates — I don’t know if Joe Biden has any idea what he’s getting into when that happens.”

Huckabee pointed to the 1984 election when Republican Ronald Reagan beat Democratic candidate Walter Mondale. During a debate, Reagan thought of a witty comeback to Mondale’s suggestion that he is too old to lead the nation.

The former Arkansas governor also discussed the 1988 race for the White House, when Democrat Michael Dukakis fumbled to answer a controversial question about capital punishment.

Huckabee noted that Trump has not been able to hold rallies and pointed out that Biden seems to have decided to stay out of the public eye.

“All we’ve seen is Joe Biden from the basement,” Huckabee said.

“The president is, of course, relegated to having to speak in certain venues without the kind of crowds [that] normally do create an energy that he feeds upon. But, it doesn’t mean that this campaign is somehow going south for the president,” the former Arkansas governor concluded.

As The Inquisitr reported last week, some Republican insiders have privately expressed concern about Trump’s reelection chances. They reportedly fear that Trump’s attacks on Biden have been ineffective and believe that the commander-in-chief needs to change course before it’s too late.

Polling suggests that Biden is a clear favorite to win the White House. The former Delaware senator is ahead of Trump in most national and state polls. In addition, some surveys suggest that Trump is struggling to maintain support in traditionally red states.

For instance, a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this week showed the two candidates neck-and-neck in Texas, also establishing that Trump’s approval ratings are in the negative territory.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden as incompetent and unfit for office. During a recent interview with anchor Chris Wallace, the commander-in-chief described his general election opponent as “mentally shot.”