• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, June 27, 2024

It has finally happened: Our world has turned into one big TV show.

Like the amped-up hype before a prizefight, TV’s partisan news media have been doing their very best for days to thump for their man in advance of Thursday night’s presidential debate.

It all starts at 9 p.m. Eastern Thursday night on all the usual broadcast and cable channels, hosted by CNN from its studios in Atlanta. Who knew they still had any there?

This first clash of the campaign season of President Biden and ex-President Trump figures to be a thrilla in vanilla, but a thrilla for all the wrong reasons. 

Like a championship boxing match, the world is breathless with anticipation, at least according to the cable news channel hosts and their guests, who have gone breathless themselves.

Who will tire in the middle rounds? Who will land the most punches? Who will land the best ones? At the end of 15 rounds, who will remain standing?

In the right corner: Fox News and Trump. In the left corner: MSNBC and Biden.

In the middle -- it is hoped -- will be host network CNN, with its two questioners and moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. To borrow a phrase from Fox News, will they be fair and balanced?

Not surprisingly, Fox News thinks not. “Do you trust CNN to play fair?” asked an onscreen question on “Jesse Watter’s PrimeTime” Tuesday night.

“Hillary’s giving Biden the answer and CNN is probably giving Biden the questions. Remember, it’s same network that leaked her the questions the last time,” Watters said.

He was referring to the 2016 presidential debates in which it was discovered that Donna Brazile, a CNN commentator at the time, had provided some debate questions to the Clinton campaign in advance of at least one the debates with Donald Trump.

His Hillary Clinton reference stemmed from an op-ed piece she wrote for The New York Times on Tuesday that offered debate advice to President Biden.

Meanwhile, here is a sample of headlines posted on on MSNBC.com on Wednesday aimed at setting the stage for a Biden win.

“ ‘Dark, dangerous and chaotic’: Trump’s vision for America blasted by Biden campaign,” said one headline.

“How Biden ‘outmaneuvered’ Trump ahead of debate,” read another. 

Another headline: “ ‘This is desperate’: Joe blasts Republicans for wondering if Biden will be jacked up at debate.” 

This headline was on a story striking back at demands coming from the Trump camp for President Biden to take a pre-debate drug test, as if the President of the United States is some kind of racehorse.

For its part, Fox News has been banging the “jacked up” drum all week.  

“Sean Hannity predicts ‘jacked-up Joe’ will be at CNN’s Presidential Debate,” said a headline on FoxNews.com on a story stemming from “Hannity” on Monday night.

On that same evening -- and presumably all week too -- Hannity complained that “biased” CNN has no business staging this debate.

“Let’s focus on two other people who are involved in Thursday’s debate from fake news CNN -- Dana Bash and fake Jake Tapper,” Hannity said.

From the media to the candidates themselves, the run-up to this debate is like a bad dream. And the debate itself and the chattering for days afterward will be like a migraine that won’t go away.

A question will linger in the air: Is this the best we can do?

Photo credits: CBS News “60 Minutes.”