Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your earpieces
Reports are that although several days ago the Biden camp had agreed to a Trump request for a pre-debate check to make sure no one was wearing an earpiece, today they rescinded that agreement. Biden’s people were also were demanding a break every thirty minutes during the debate, for a total of two breaks, and the answer is no.
There are a bunch of possibilities here. One is that the report isn’t true, but it comes from the NY Post and Trump has confirmed it and Biden’s group hasn’t denied it, so my guess is that it’s true.
Ace has a theory that this is an attempt to get Trump to cancel the debates. But if it is, in my opinion there’s no way Trump will do that. My own theory is that they originally were prepping Biden and it seemed to them that he was doing okay, but in the last day or so he hasn’t been performing well and they decided an earpiece was needed after all.
It should be standard to check for such things. But apparently it’s not.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Biden has also gotten the questions in advance, but even that may not be enough to assure a decent showing. Of course, he doesn’t need to do much to outperform expectations, and most of what he says is repetitious and meaningless boilerplate blah blah blah anyway. He could probably do most of it in his sleep.
The Biden camp probably thinks – and perhaps they’re correct – that if Biden can steer clear of some unbelievably huge meltdown during the debate, than it’s all okay. After all, few people are voting for him; most Biden voters simply hate Trump and think he’s some combination of Hitler, Stalin, and a demon.
And the Democrats may also be counting on massive voting fraud to carry them through. On the latter point, we have several recent stories that are depressing: in Minnesota, possibly in Pennsylvania, and in particular in Texas. And those are just the ones that are coming to light. The opportunities are vast, particularly in states that mail ballots to every voter on the registration rolls.
[ADDENDUM: More evidence of the travesty that is mass mail-in voting. Aside from the huge opportunities for fraud, we have sheer and massive incompetence.]
If Biden does have an earpiece it should be possible to tap into the wireless signal to that earpiece. I have no idea of what frequency such a device operates on, but the technology exists to monitor that such a device is in use.
It is truly bizarre that the “voter suppression’ believed in by nearly all leftists is almost entirely (if not completely) mythical, while voter fraud (more and more common and well-documented with more and more mail-in voting) is invariably dismissed in the MSM as a conspiracy theory, yet we live in a country in which, according to Wray at the FBI and Wolf at DHS, the real threat of violence is not the Antifa/BLM mobs who have been responsible for murder, chaos, looting, and incivility over the last several months, but “right-wing extremists.” Any rational person must be dismayed by the victory of ideology and propaganda over truth.
physicsguy:
Yes, on other blogs several commenters have mentioned that possibility.
“If Biden does have an earpiece it should be possible to tap into the wireless signal to that earpiece.”
Sure seems like a possibility to me. Wouldn’t it be fun if there were also someone recording it?? Of course, then you’d have to prove that it was an actual recording…
I would be disappointed if Biden received questions in advance. Fox News’ Chris Wallace is not pro-Trump, but I hope he has some remaining integrity.
physicsguy, if such a device can be monitored, can it be blocked? A buzzing in Biden’s ear would put a stop to its use.
After the MSM’s (specifically Candy Crowley) conduct in the 2012 debates, nothing is off the table at this point and we would be fools to believe otherwise.
At Instapundit, I wrote that it wouldn’t surprise me if they went with a more low tech/stage magic solution: the mask.
If Team Biden received the questions in advance, which I believe to be likely, why not have him prerecord his answers and play them through the sound system. No need for lip sync when he’s wearing a mask.
If we see Biden wearing a mask tonight, shenanigans, hi tech or low, are in play.
Kate:
Biden’s boys may have considered that probability but they can’t risk putting Slow Joe on display without the essential props. A “Stop the hammering!” moment during the debate would be gold.
om, we can only hope to see such a moment!
Entirely off-topic – but Sidney Powell applied some serious fire to Judge Sullivan’s rear-end today.
If you can tap into it don’t bother with buzzing. A very loud recording of gunshots would have him reacting to something that isn’t there. Good luck explaining that away.
“The Biden camp probably thinks – and perhaps they’re correct – that if Biden can steer clear of some unbelievably huge meltdown during the debate, than it’s all okay.”
Precisely. Biden almost certainly is in early stage dementia, and was known to be a loose cannon even before that. He tells ridiculous lies, with impunity, and plagiarizes with ease…but the MSM will bury much of the above if he attempts any of it tonight.
Even without an earpiece, it is fairly likely Biden will be able to utter something both coherent and marginally compelling tonight; something generic that would be wholly unremarkable from any other Democrat; something akin to:
“I believe the Covid-19 tragedy, that has been exacerbated by this administration, underscores the pressing need for the best healthcare possible for all Americans. And if billionaires like the President have to pay a lot more in taxes, so be it!”
This will be touted ad nauseum as the finest eloquence since Churchill (no, wait, they hate Churchill…the finest eloquence since MLK).
Furthermore, it is almost certain Trump will say something that can be spun as belligerent, reckless, offensive, sexist and racist. Pretty much, his saying “Thank you, Chris” when asked for his opening statement will be construed as such.
And so…all we will hear about after the debate tonight, and tomorrow, is Biden’s eloquent statements and Trump’s vile, bigoted commentary. Everything else (including the multitude of Biden gaffes, absurdities and confusion that is highly likely) will be artfully forgotten.
“After all, few people are voting for him; most Biden voters simply hate Trump and think he’s some combination of Hitler, Stalin, and a demon.”
Very true. Outside of Biden’s family and staff, probably less than 1/10th of 1% of voters are voting FOR Biden specifically. Everyone knows this and few care. But that is one question I desperately wish Chris Wallace would ask:
“Mr. Vice President, can you explain to the American people why they should vote FOR you? Not vote AGAINST Donald Trump, but for you, specifically? Can you offer an explanation without mentioning the President or anything about his administration?”
I think even if Biden was having a lucid moment, he would stumble over that question as badly as Ted Kennedy did with Roger Mudd’s similar query 40 years ago
When Trump tells the nationwide audience that Biden refused to be checked for earpieces, that will not be to Biden’s advantage.
Ackler:
MLK has fallen out of favor with the left, as well.
Neo: True enough. How about “The greatest eloquence since Ibram Kendi?” 😉
I will just add, I think the earpiece is very much on the table for the Biden camp, but only as a last resort. It certainly comes with risks in itself, not least of which: Biden clearly betraying its existence by talking to whomever is on the other end during the debate:
“Hang on! Wait!”
“Slow down; I missed that! Can you repeat it?”
“No, I don’t want to say that! Think of something better”
And so forth.
I think this is a big reason why they want those two breaks. They won’t send Biden out with an earpiece straight away, unless he’s seriously sundowning (and, if so, I’m guessing they’d call off the debate entirely because… COVID!). But if he starts to go south in the middle of it, they will get that earpiece in during one of the breaks.
The Babylon Bee suggested that Trump simply yield all his time to Biden. Chris Wallace would run out of softball questions, and Biden would run out of memorized softball answers. Extemporaneous speech from Biden would likely doom his campaign.
Trump should go on stage and invite someone to come up and check to see if he has an earpiece. I Jim Acosta is there he would be the perfect foil for the check.
This has the potential for disaster for Biden written all over it. No way is he going to be able to maintain coherency for 9 straight minutes, much less 90 minutes. Even if given the answers over an earpiece, he’ll repeatedly blow it.
I won’t be the least bit surprised if at the last minute, Biden’s handlers pull him out of the debate. Citing as justification Trump’s ‘insulting, intolerable and outrageous demands.
I wear hearing aids that work with bluetooth and my phone, I have one program where my phone could be some distance away and a person speaking into my phone would be sending directly into my ear. Lots and lots of us old folks use this stuff and I would suppose what you could see on my ears cold be made super tiny and hidden in the ear canal. That’s all, just saying, and I don’t know how hard it would be to interfere with a bluetooth signal.
I can’t imagine Sleepy Joe using an earpiece. Listening to one while speaking is very difficult. I don’t think he could manage it. But I hope he tries: The Youtube clips will be hilarious.
}}} It should be standard to check for such things. But apparently it’s not.
They should have asked for The Amazing Randi to check into it. He caught a schlockmeister “Faith Healer” using instructions via earpiece to “magically” know what the “healer” was being told by people — shills he had in the audience waiting area pumping people for what they were there for, so he could “know” things “he had no way to know”… and pick people with issues he could look good dealing with.
For that matter, if they are smart, they have a technical expert there, who is capable of finding any such thing, recording the transmissions, and then releasing them as a voiceover to the debate (probably after the debates, close to the election).
You want to destroy Biden’s credibility, that would be a nuke strike, even with the media on Biden’s side trying to do damage control.
}}} Listening to one while speaking is very difficult.
I doubt if he’s quite that bad. They can be just saying words and phrases to trigger his memory of what to say, or what to think in response.
It appears Biden may be able to listen and talk at approximately the same time.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2020/09/30/was-joe-biden-wearing-a-wire-during-last-nights-debate/