CLASH IN CLEVELAND: First Presidential Debate Tonight

Today on Jay Sekulow Live, the clash in Cleveland as President Trump and Joe Biden head to their first debate. Live from Washington DC, Jay Sekulow Live. Phone lines are open for your questions right now. Call 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. So tonight is the clash in Cleveland.

I think a lot of people have been waiting for this. Finally to see both President Trump and Joe Biden go head to head. We'll see how Chris Wallace handles these. These can be very too strong personalities. And neither of which I think Chris Wallace likes particularly.

So that's going to be interesting either. He definitely doesn't like President Trump. President Trump doesn't like him. And he said it pretty vocally about Chris Wallace. But I don't think Chris Wallace loves Joe Biden either. So you've got kind of these curmudgeon-y debate moderator. And one curmudgeon on the Democrat side and one tough guy on the Republican side. And both can get very heated in debates.

That is what we know. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump can get... I mean Joe Biden showed that versus Paul Ryan. It was a long time ago. But it was a heck of a debate. But he took the first 30 minutes and he took over and he basically rolled over and shot Paul Ryan.

So he can come out swinging. But to kind of use the Reagan way another way around, Donald Trump is no Paul Ryan. And Paul Ryan is no Donald Trump. This is a guy that if you start swinging at, starts punching back at you with some of the hardest rhetoric.

Usually it's actually harder rhetoric than most of us could imagine throwing out at somebody. I will say that about him. The President is more of a... I like boxing. And is more of a Sonny...

This goes way back before anybody's time. Sonny Liston. It's all of a sudden out of... It's one punch.

He whispers to Sonny. He's just like... What he did to Hillary. Hillary said something and he goes, but you'll be in jail.

And it takes away the entire thing. Or you didn't pay enough tax. He said, because I'm smart. And so he's already handled that tax issue too the last time around the debate.

And all he said was, because I'm smart and people loved it. Politico has the story up today. They said they have underestimated, again, Donald Trump. And every liberal is going into this thinking, well, the bar is set so low for Joe Biden. Aaron Goldbrant, who puts together our prep materials, wrote that the bar is set so low for Joe Biden that if he doesn't mistake Trump for his own wife, the media will say it was the greatest debate performance ever. But there is a very low bar for Joe Biden. Coherence is the bar. I want to say something to our audience because the bar has been set extremely low.

And what Jordan said is exactly correct. Joe Biden has spent 40 years on the floor of the United States Senate debating most of the time. So he can debate. I don't expect Joe Biden to be a weak debater. Unless he just can't get the numbers out, can't get the stats out. He can be a gaffe machine.

Could be. And how does he handle the attack on his, you know, Hunter Biden is coming up immediately. Yeah, well, I'm sure they're prepared for that. So here's what I'm telling everybody. Look at both style and substance because I think where Chris Wallace will be good is getting this, keeping it back on track.

Now, I will tell you this. I've had Chris. I've been on his program a lot. And he is the most difficult of the Sunday morning shows. He is the most aggressive of all of them. In a nasty kind of way, I think.

Yeah, he gets pretty nasty. I mean, I don't, I don't. He'll say, well, that's not, you know, that's not what you said about such and such.

And that's not even wasn't even same context. And you just have to be prepared for it. Here's the topics, too. I mean, they kind of open themselves up to war. He starts off with the records. I mean, that's very broad. Mr. Trump's and Mr. Biden's records that could get into anything.

Then it's the Supreme Court. I think that's going to benefit Donald Trump. The COVID pandemic. You know, again, Joe Biden's going to be pressed by Chris Wallace saying, what would you have done? What are you going to do so differently?

Like, what do you think you could have done that would have been so different for the United States? And I think Joe Biden better have an answer for that. Then it's the economy. Well, that's Trump.

Race and violence in cities. That is a danger zone for Joe Biden. A danger zone for Joe Biden. And then the integrity of the election. Well, I mean, I don't even know if they get to all these topics.

There's a lot of topics to get to in an hour and a half. They'll hit them quickly. Look, I think this is going to be a real joust. I think the look, the President also knows how to debate.

So they both know how to debate. The question is going to be who shows up game day ready to go. I have no doubt the President will be ready to go. But Joe Biden, that appears. We're going to see in about eight hours.

Yeah. And that's the big question. Who which Joe Biden shows up in that first 30 minutes of the debate, which is critical because that's where you got the most eyes on it.

We'll be right back with Rick Rinnell. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLU has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Music Alright, welcome back to Jay Sekio Live. This is Jordan Sekio.

We're taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. My dad's joining us and Rick Rinell, our special advisor for national security and foreign policy. But also Rick, before that, you know, again, made the spokesperson at the United Nations for the United States. So he understands the debates, the politics. He's been a political consultant as well for many Presidential campaigns and a lead spokesperson for Presidential campaigns.

So I want to go right to Rick because, Rick, on the debate tonight, the bar has been set very low for Joe Biden, which makes it easier for the media that wants to give Joe Biden the win already to give him the win. So I think that there's that pressure on President Trump to show the President Trump that he was in the past in these debates as someone who really kind of takes out his opponents. Yeah, you know, I also think, though, that in many ways everybody knows President Trump. He's running the country. We see him every day. We know how he responds.

We know his record. We know that he's looking to fix the economy, just like he gave us the soaring, amazing economy that he did before. And now he has to do it again. So in some ways, I actually think, Jordan, that the pressure is on Joe Biden because he can't run on what he did for eight years because, I mean, literally it's a disaster, whether you take foreign policy or domestic policy or the Pentagon policy, whatever, pick whatever area. And Donald Trump has had to fix everything. And I think that's going to be the message from Trump is I had to fix and you're clean up.

And so that's always going to be a response. The fact that the economy was soaring shows everybody that Donald Trump knows how to create jobs. Three Nobel Peace Prize nominations. Joe Biden in 47 years never got a single one. And then lastly, I would just say that everyone's looking for a moment where Joe Biden is not clearheaded. And so the pressure on Joe Biden to actually be able to go toe to toe on his record of eight years, no matter what he says about the Trump record, the President is ready to defend his record.

We have an amazing record. It's all going to be about Joe Biden's record. So I was going to ask you that, Rick, and that is the kind of juxtaposing the two foreign policy issues. And let's take the Middle East, which you're intimately familiar with. So we look at we look at the Joe Biden days with President Obama, so the Obama Biden days, and look at the Middle East. And then we look at it now under President Trump.

There's a giant contrast. It's not just the outcome, but also how we got there. What's your sense of how big of an issue that plays? Well, look, I think you're going to have to look to Joe Biden talking about Europeans and consensus. And when you're talking about consensus, what you really mean is let's talk about all the people that get to veto the United States foreign policy. So President Trump is going to have to show that just because the Europeans want some sort of continuation of their path towards socialism and that we're supposed to have consensus with them on that. I think the President is going to have to showcase that we believe in the transatlantic relationship, but we're trying to drag them back into a Western facing capitalistic view of the world.

And so we can't be trapped by this. You know, you have to go to the UN Security Council and get their approval because you walk into the UN Security Council and you've got 14 countries that want to water down your policy. So this whole Biden approach of consensus and having countries clap for us when we enter the room, I think has got to be taken on by the President to say, look, we're here and we're going to do what 193 other countries do, which is fight for their people. We're the only country that gets in trouble for fighting for our people.

Everybody else does it on a daily basis. What do you think, Rick, about the fact that because Joe Biden had decided not to run a more traditional campaign, unlike the Trump campaign, which has done it even with COVID, and kind of figure that out and start putting out the Presidents on the road now all the time, vice Presidents on the road all the time, speaking to voters directly again. Joe Biden is kind of doing that very limited way in Kamala Harris. I feel like, you know, they always say debates. It's not like you're going to win or lose the election off one debate.

And I get that. But when you haven't had as much exposure, now, Joe Biden's been out there a long time, but it's been years now. So it seems like it is a huge night for him, maybe more so than before, because the American voters are seeing these candidates through the lens, and most of them will see them through the lens. They will never get to see them in person. It's like their first interactive moment and the only way they're going to interact. Let's be honest. This is the largest crowd that Joe Biden has had to campaign in front of since he's been running.

He's been behind the screen or in the basement or having these circle meetings of like eight people. Look, I have a lot of liberal friends whom I love and respect very much. And I had dinner with several liberal friends last night. And actually, I should start using the word left instead of liberal, because sometimes traditional liberal is not that. But very left leaning friends. And I have to tell you that they are really angry and concerned that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not campaigning.

They just don't get it. This whole like COVID thing is is an excuse. And they're seeing what's happening, which is, oh, my gosh, we don't have candidates that are actually campaigning. And remember when Hillary didn't go to Michigan, it was the Russians fault. And so they're going to gear up on blaming mail in ballots or whatever. But let's be very clear about something.

Joe Biden is not campaigning and neither is Kamala Harris. So, you know, I've studied that a bit because it's an interesting dynamic to see. And that is, I think the decision to keep Joe Biden basically in the bunker, as they were calling it, in his house was calculated. And it was calculated that it would reduce the possibility of gaffe.

And you reduce the possibility of gaffe by eliminating the areas where you can gaffe. Now, tonight, it's different. So tonight, the ability for either candidate, frankly, to create a gaffe or to make a misstatement or whatever it might be is live, interactive. First time that you're going to have Trump and Biden, the President and the former vice President. No teleprompter. Together-ish.

I mean, I know it will be socially distanced, but interactive. Because these debates, and I think the way Chris Wallace wants to do it, is there's going to be a lot of interchange between Joe Biden and the President. That's what I think Chris Wallace wants. And that's going to be interesting for Joe Biden to have to handle.

Yeah. And I hope that Chris Wallace doesn't jump in and try to control it. You know, we all watch boxing or, you know, football. And the activist referees that are trying to control the game too much, I think, is something that really annoys people. And I hope that we don't have some Candy Crowley moments where, you know, somebody has to defend or the Stephanie Rule moment from MSNBC where they have to jump in and give Biden the answers. We need to let the two kind of go at it. And Chris Wallace can be there to kind of pull them off each other and get them back to sparring if they get stuck. But I think the fact of the matter is that the moderators should not really be seen that much. Their role is to pick at both, ask quick questions, not make statements, and try to get both to talk. We want to hear from them. We don't want to hear from Chris Wallace.

So, you know, you raised the issue of how the moderator does this. And Chris Wallace has been quoted as saying he wants to be pretty invisible. Now, Chris Wallace by nature is not invisible. Someone that's been – I know you have been on his program. I've been on his program.

This is not a guy that's invisible. He cuts you off. He changes topic. And the President's approach generally on these kind of things, if you look back at the tapes which I've had of the previous debates, he's unbelievably quick on one-liners. Joe Biden, on the other hand, is very aggressive in that first 30 minutes. And that's going to be the interesting dynamic to see how that one punch, one punch, one punch plays against the guy that keeps coming. So does the President do the – is it the thriller in Manila or is it Zaire where you lay on the ropes, he swings out, and then you go for the knockout punch? I don't know. I like boxing. I'm using boxing analogies. But the President is so good with one-liners that you almost wonder if you let him punch out for the first few minutes and then just hit him with the zingers to stop it. I don't know.

It's going to be – you have to play that when you get there. You know, the President is fundamentally different when he's in the press room with, you know, 15, 20 reporters. He understands that that moment is really not about information sharing. It's about entertainment. I mean, just look at the reporters in that room. They're not looking for information.

They already know the information. They're looking to score a Twitter moment. The President fundamentally is different in that moment than when he is sitting down one-on-one with a reporter. When he sits one-on-one with a reporter, he's incredibly respectful, and yet he's incredibly tough. And so I hope that Chris Wallace is tough, and I don't mind a good reporter interrupting when somebody tries to go off on a diatribe that is a non sequitur.

But I will say that what we expect is that Chris Wallace needs to play fair and do it to both sides. When Biden tries to filibuster and go off, he needs to interrupt him as well. I think the President does really well in these situations because, as you know, he's an incredibly nice person. I mean, you don't always get that when he's in a press conference because he's had to be very thick-skinned.

He's got a great heart, and he's sympathetic, and he's empathetic, and he knows how to respond. So, is Rick still with us? Did it freeze? So, I think Rick froze. He's going to be joining us tomorrow. Is it back on?

Okay. So, Rick is going to be joining us tomorrow as well to kind of break down the debate. So, we had the analysis of what to look for tonight, and then he'll be joining us tomorrow to break it all down for you. So, Rick will be joining us two days in a row.

It's great to have Rick Grenell as a special advisor to the ACLJ. When we come back, we'll take your phone calls. What are you looking for tonight from the candidates? 1-800-684-3110. Are you on the fence? Are you thinking about who to vote for?

Do you already know, and are you just trying to get more excited about it? 1-800-684-3110. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash GIFT. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org. We want to start getting more of your thoughts on this 1-800-684-3110.

What are you looking for tonight? The Washington Post – I go to Thamben in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post has said kind of the five key things to look for is how does the debate focus? What actually becomes the focus of the debate? How does it kind of start playing out? How personal does it get? I can tell you that right away, knowing the President of the United States and knowing what came out about Hunter Biden, knowing the President's tax stuff that came out. Very quickly, it's going to get personal.

That's just the nature of these two. And it's also the known way to get Joe Biden totally off game is go personal. He'll focus 100 percent on that and kind of like lose is cool.

So I think the personal thing, that's like not even a question. Unless they both come out of hands off, that would be – Joe Biden would have to, I think, set that tone. And I'm still not sure that President Trump wouldn't go in right with the hook on that. How does Chris Wallace handle the candidates? These are two guys that can talk. And I think Chris Wallace, again, he's got to let them talk to some extent. You've got to let them throw punches at each other and get in exchanges. This isn't 16 people on the stage. It's two.

He's trying to do each topic in 15 minutes. He's got to let them mix it up. Yeah, you've got to let them mix it up and there's a time to – you've had your chances to throw your punches.

They either land or they didn't. And then the next one is can they keep control of their tempers? I think some of this is very Washington. People like President Trump because he's tough. And I think there are people that like Biden because he can get aggressive.

Yeah, so I think, again, that's kind of – now, if you can't speak, if you can't get your words out because your temper gets the best of you, that's different. And then the last one is what do they do to appeal to women? I mean that's kind of a broad question too. But Thanh Bennett, I want to go to you, Washington, D.C. Thanh, what do you think for independent voters? I think most Republicans have made up their mind and most Democrats have made up their mind. So you're talking to about three or four percent of people in the middle.

That's bigger in some states, smaller in others. But you're trying to convince them to go out and vote for you. And so you obviously want to have a good performance because a lot of people won't watch it. They'll only see the media coverage about it. But what do you think is the key for tonight? A couple of things, Jordan. First of all, on the point about the moderator, look, it's only 90 minutes long. So if they are mixing it up or if one of the candidates loses their train of thought, which, you know, the vice President has been known to do recently, I think they've got to let them go, Jordan, because I think the American people need to see how nimble both of these candidates are or aren't on their feet. But as far as those independent undecided voters, Jordan, I actually think it was really telling today what a lot of the lead up to the debate, what the controversy was. The controversy was the Biden campaign didn't like how that last topic that you touched on was being articulated, being defined. The phrase that Chris Wallace used was race and violence in our cities.

Well, Jordan, I mean, what do you want to call it? I mean, that's what's happening in our cities right now. And one of the most important factors, I think for every voter, but certainly for those voters that have not decided, is what will these two men do to quell the violence in our cities and keep the American people safe? I've told you this many times, Jordan, I think that will be one of the deciding factors of this election. And if the Biden campaign is upset right now that he's articulating it as race and violence in our cities, Jordan, I got to be honest with you, I think that's troubling for the former vice President. That's a question that's got to be answered tonight by both candidates. But, you know, they've set the bar so low for Biden.

I mean, I think this is one of the great mistakes here is they've set the bar so low for Joe Biden that him showing up is a win. So what we have to do, I think is if we're going to give real analysis to this and really look at what this means is you just can't go with, you showed up and you were able to speak and that's a win, but get to the policy differences. Like the one I'd like to see is under the Obama administration, money was given to Iran to go into a nuclear deal that was a disaster. The President moves the embassy to Jerusalem for Israel, recognize it as the eternal capital of Israel, recognizes the Golan Heights as being Israeli sovereign territory. Who is now the isolated entity? The left was saying it's going to be Israel be isolated. So meanwhile, you've got the Abraham Accords with the Middle East with new countries joining probably this next week or not this week.

And Iran is probably the most isolated entity in the Middle East. So they need to show the policy differences here significantly. It'll be interesting to see if we get to that in this first. If we really get to significant policy differences or does it become a kind of punching match on personal issues? Because I think that's where the Democrats think the President's most vulnerable. That's where Republicans think Biden is very vulnerable on both policy and personal issues.

No media outlet that he has spoken to has pressed him on what came out about Hunter Biden's connection to sex trafficking in Moscow. Who do you think is going to do that tonight? I don't think it's going to be Chris Wallace.

It's going to be Donald Trump. And he's going to have to answer that because it was a real report from the Senate. I mean, this is not this was not just in the news. Some conservative news outlet came from the U.S. Senate. Their son took three million dollars from sex traffickers. OK, so on top of Burisma and all of that, and the fact that they tried to impeach the President over that, his son did that.

Now, that's pretty tough coming out. But the Senate this again, it's based off a Senate report. It's not based off what Donald Trump thinks. It's based off what a Senate report found. The second thing, although all of the fact that the the State Department and the FBI was coming to Vice President Biden saying, your son is causing us trouble in foreign policy, and he did nothing about it because I think the son is a conduit for the Biden family money.

Takes in all the money, gives it out to the family. And again, that's why Joe Biden doesn't step in the way particularly. But also, there's been some interesting procedural matters here.

Then we're going to get to your phone calls 1-800-684-3110. For instance, Joe Biden wanted two breaks. This is only an hour and a half.

And Trump campaign said, nope. Our guy gets up and gives 90-minute speeches plus all the time. So there's only one 30-minute break? I don't think, no breaks. No breaks during the day. It's an hour and a half.

It should be a debate. Right, so that is telling about how they feel about the candidate's mental capability to stick with it straight through 90 minutes. So they were asking for two breaks.

That was denied. But the Trump campaign has also come back and said, what's in your ears? Are they hearing aids? Is there something like that in your ears? Because that came out in those debates with Obama where he had the weird thing on his back.

It looked like he had some kind of contraption. It's no joke anymore either when we know that Donna Brazile was feeding questions to Hillary Clinton's campaign before. There's a lot of issues that have come about. The legitimacy of the debates themselves have been placed in question because of the nature of what happened last time. Where CNN had to acknowledge that Donna Brazile, who's now on Fox, but that they had to acknowledge that she in fact was sharing this information, the questions, with Hillary Clinton. As if that was okay and they admonished her and they did.

But that's not the point. The point is the debates themselves have been so diminished in public esteem. I'm actually surprised they're having them. I'm glad they are. I think it's good for the President.

It's good for President Trump. But I'm a little surprised they are because the whole process has been so significantly tainted. Well we know Biden's team didn't want them. Hillary, I mean you even had Nancy Pelosi saying you shouldn't go to the debate. She still believes that. She was asked something about it a couple of days ago and she said I still think that. Because I think they know. I've got to ask something to Than really quick.

This is very dangerous. So Amy Barrett's up on the Hill, we'll talk about this in the next segment. And Blumenthal said he will not meet with her and I understand Schumer will not meet with her either. Yeah it sounds like most of the Democrats aren't going to meet with her. Several of them said they will vote against her without meeting with her.

Jay, I mean it's just such a bad look. You say you want women advancement in public policy. Then you have the President nominating a very accomplished woman to the post. And your response is, well I don't like the politics so I'm not even going to meet with her. Jay, I'll tell you, I think she's going to get confirmed either way. But I think the most ironclad way to ensure that Republicans are going to go to the floor of the well of the Senate and vote for her. It's by the Democrats turning to politics. They can not meet with her.

They can boycott the hearings. I believe she's going to be on the court. Yeah, I think you're right. Alright folks, second half hour coming up. We'll start getting to your phone calls.

1-800-6-8-4 3110. You know what I say about that? Thank goodness she doesn't have to sit with Chuck Schumer. Because he threatened Supreme Court justices. You sure did? He said Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.

And Blumenthal the liar about Vietnam. I mean who wants to spend time with these old men? No one. We'll be back. Second half hour coming up on Jay Sekio Live. And if you're not, well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org Live from Washington D.C. Jay Sekulow Live. And now your host Jordan Sekulow. Comments on Facebook. We've got calls coming in.

1-800-6-8-4 3110. We're going to get to those even right away. Because we're talking about what you want to see in the debates. We've had Rick Rinnell on. He's an expert there on campaigns. He was a spokesperson for Romney on foreign policy. Former acting director of national intelligence. Former US ambassador. But also he was a spokesperson for the United States at the UN.

The longest serving ever. And so he's been in these spin rooms before. He does a ton of media like we all do. So he gets it.

He gave his analysis. I want to hear from all of you what you kind of think needs to be said. So Mark on Facebook says Biden's got to speak out about the riots in the cities.

It's destroying our country. So how he handles that? Because it's a topic tonight. It's a very careful balance for Joe Biden. Because he wants the far left vote. And the far left like you heard from Rick.

And we know this. They don't think that Biden is doing enough right now in the campaign world. And they don't want him attacking the protesters. And that's why they didn't. You know, they don't like the phrase violence.

They would rather have it called city unrest. But it is violence. And so you've got to look at what it actually is.

How do you think that plays then? Well they don't want to speak against it. Because like Jordan said, it represents the fringe of some... Look, I think fringe is the wrong word.

It represents part of their base. Let's just say it plainly, Jay and Jordan. That's why they don't want to address it. And look, he's got to be willing to distinguish between legitimate protests and violence in the streets.

And they have not been able to do that. So Jay, the only really way they can avoid making that distinction is if it doesn't come up. But if it's in the definition of one of the topics that Chris Wallace is going to go to, they're going to have to. I predict this, Jay. I don't think you will see an outright condemnation of the violence from Joe Biden. And if you do, here is where I think Chris Wallace really has an obligation to push back. Because we have not seen the action that it takes on the part of the left in Washington, D.C. to actually enforce that. The words aren't enough, Jay.

There's violence in the streets. The President has been doing what it takes to quell it. And if Joe Biden were to take office, Jay, he would have to be committed to continuing it. I don't think he'll say that tonight. I think you're right.

All right. So let's get to your calls and comments. Let's take a call right off the bat. Let's go to Fonda calling from Ohio on Line 1, a very important state. Of course, the debate is happening in Ohio tonight in Cleveland. Fonda, welcome to JCECO Live. Well, thank you for having me, sir.

You're on the air. Okay. What I would like to ask is, many times the coordinator of the program will ask a question to a candidate. Then the candidate just takes off on a political tyrant and never does answer the question. How do you think Chris Wallace is going to handle that area of actually getting the questions answered? I think Chris Wallace will make him answer the question. I mean, Chris Wallace is very tough when it comes to moderating. First of all, he spends his life moderating.

So this is not something new for him. That's different when it's a debate. But I think you're not going to be able to – what you're going to have to do with Chris Wallace, which I have found when I've been on with him, is you have to say, now, wait a minute, let me answer the question. And if he doesn't like the way your answer is going and he tries to interrupt, I think either candidate needs to say, now, wait a minute, I'm the candidate. So let me answer the question. You ask me this, I'm going to explain it to you, but this is my answer.

And this is how I get to this point. But I think Chris keeps saying he wants to be invisible. I don't personally believe it. No. But I think that it's going to be aggressive, but I think both candidates are going to have to say, I'm answering the question, you just don't like my answer.

So I think they will make him answer the question. Yeah. Okay. So, I mean, there we go.

There's the first cause. It's kind of like the answering the question part. It's always tough with the debates. But if you ask direct enough questions – and listen, it's not a lightning round. This isn't 16 candidates. We're talking about issues that deserve more than a yes or no sometimes. And I think if Chris Wallace tries to go at it with, I want a yes or no. You know, foreign policy is not always yes or no.

It takes a description. There could be some yes or no answers too. President Trump's good about that. I think it's Joe Biden who really doesn't do yes or no.

And he kind of just goes on and on and on and on. And so they need to be treated equally. That should just be fair. That's all we're asking for is fair. And if it's fair, then you can really judge the candidates. If it becomes a moderator-focused debate, then it's a wash for both. And neither want that. 1-800-684-3110.

How do you expect tonight's debate to go? And what are you looking for? Give us a call. 1-800-684-3110. Are you going to be watching?

1-800-684-3110. And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority.

Especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org. Where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases. How we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists. The ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later. A play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry. And what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to JCECCO Live. We've got our team here. Wes Smith also joining us now.

Tham Bennett, my dad. We're just all kind of want to take it from you too. What you are expecting in tonight's debate. What you hope to see in tonight's debate and glean from it. And if you even think it's going to, you think it matters. I think debates usually don't matter. I think that it impacts very little people because independents don't actually watch them. Because they're the least involved. They end up voting, but not this early. No.

They're not even that engaged yet. This is a little different. One, people are stuck at home in many states. It's entertainment. Free entertainment for an hour and a half.

Then it will be. Two, yeah because Donald Trump. I don't think there's any doubt about that. Donald Trump brings in ratings. So we know that. Joe Biden hasn't done much publicly without a teleprompter. So this will be interesting and unique.

So I think that this debate is probably more important. Especially the first half hour when people actually are paying attention. Because you lose a lot of people after that first 30, 40 minutes. Because it's just like they got to do other stuff or it's a lot of talking. Because uninterrupted hour and a half. Joe Biden wanted a couple commercial breaks if you will. Potty breaks I guess.

And he got denied. They said go to the bathroom before. It's an hour and a half.

The American people deserve that. Of course Trump's campaign came out and said he speaks for 90 minutes regularly. If not longer. So he has no issue with that. And that's what they said.

I know. And I don't think he has no issue with that. There is a question right now. There's a lot of people commenting about the earpiece thing.

I think Joe Biden is already. He's going to have to handle that. Does he wear a hearing aid? I don't know. I'm not. Listen I have tinnitus. So sometimes I use a hearing aid. It's called a re-hearing to try to. Yeah. So I'm sure if you know that there might be some device.

Now would Joe Biden want to come out admitting he had to wear hearing aids? No. Which is kind of ridiculous in this day and time. But like you said, the debates themselves are also like, are they necessary in 2020 to have two people going at it for now with the moderator and all the weird 1960s style stuff. Here's the same stage. Yeah.

Here's the problem. The esteem of the debates has been dropped so significantly because of the fiasco of the last one. So how they're viewed by the American people is very different than they used to be. And Wes I think that one of the issues. I think it'll be good that you'll see them on the same stage, they'll be interacting with each other, but the expectations for Joe Biden are so low.

They really are. I mean, just showing up will be deemed a win for him. Exactly. It's an unconventional campaign season and I think that makes the attention on this debate much, much greater. But you look at this year so far, Joe Biden has actually talked to the press intentionally 12 times. President Trump, by my last count from one of the media outlets, he's... 100. Yeah, almost, yeah, 171 different formal interactions with the press.

So it's an unconventional campaign. I think the President goes in with those advantages. And for the first time, Trump gets to speak to tens of millions of Americans directly because the mainstream media, they don't allow him to do that.

They play excerpts out of context and they criticize the President. Tonight for 90 minutes, he gets to talk directly to the American people. But I want to say something here, Jordan. I want to get Thanh's comment on this because here's, and yours too, don't undersell Biden's ability to debate. He has spent his lifetime debating.

You are across the street, Thanh, from the United States Senate right now. Biden knows how to debate. Now, whether he'll be able to pull it together tonight, that's a different question, but he does know how to debate.

No question about it. He's spent more than four decades across the street from here in the United States Senate. And Jay, I would tie this into the conversation you had with Rick and Jordan about foreign policy as well. I mean, three different times he was the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So look, I look at President Trump's record in the Middle East and in foreign affairs, and it's of course, riddled with accomplishments. That's a topic that Joe Biden has debated, has talked about for his entire career. He should be able to talk about it very well. Now, it might be hard to compare records, but Jay, there's nothing that Joe Biden is not familiar with if he's not familiar with debating, especially when it comes to foreign policy. So look, I think it's fair.

I think he has to show hold his own. If he can't do this, Jay, he's not going to be able to do anything because this is what he's done his whole life. All right. Now, let's go. Take your calls. 1-800-684-3110. Let's go to Edie in California online for Edie. Welcome to Jay Sekio Live. Thank you and God bless you guys for all you do.

Thanks. I'm a conservative, and so I'm a decided voter, but I watch Fox News all the time and listen to Christian radio stations, so to me, that is kind of preaching to the choir. Tonight, what I'm looking for is an opportunity for Trump to share what he has done and what he plans to do in the future to kind of counter all the propaganda that is out there on the other side. Yeah, I think, listen, it does give the President an opportunity to reach and say, listen, you hear all this junk about me all day from CNN, MSNBC. So if you're not, like you say, if you're not watching Fox News, listen to conservative Christian radio, where there's some preaching to the choir, I get that too.

I mean, I understand. It's also about educating people in the choir because you're not going to get anywhere else. But this is President Trump's opportunity where you're on every network. They're not going to cut away from you. So you get to talk to the labor voters. You get to talk to the moms. You get to talk to the suburban suburbanites. You get to talk to the farmers. You get to talk to people who live in inner cities. And no one's going to cut you off from maybe Chris Wallace.

But you know, you're not going to commercial break. And I do think that favors West President Trump. He likes to have the long form format to talk.

Yes, he does. And as I said, for the first time, he gets to do this directly via the media with the American people. Plus, the President has a record of achievements to actually run on. If you look at Joe Biden's promises about what his achievements would be if he were President, the policies going forward, it seems like he's abdicating a return to bringing back the bad old days of reentering the JCPOA with Iran, of higher taxes, of anti-energy, a weak foreign policy.

President Trump has rebuilt the military. And all indications are that Joe Biden would at least plateau that, if not decrease it. And you look at his proposed policy, Joe Biden is already talking about raising taxes three point seven trillion dollars. And yet his proposed programs going forward are about 11 trillion dollars. I hope someone tonight asks the former vice President how he intends to pay for those things, especially paying for them without hurting the military.

Yeah, I mean, again, a lot of talk about spending, spending, spending. Now, it's interesting this did come up. Maybe it will come up tonight, Thanh, is that finally the House put together a COVID plan. I was exactly what I was going to ask.

Two point two trillion. But it's but they say they're willing to negotiate on it. I think Nancy Pelosi finally was up against the wall and House Democrats were telling her you're killing us here. You cannot ignore this issue and you can't keep blaming the Senate, who's already passed legislation. So now the House has a plan that will come up in the debate. Where is that, though, in the House right now with kind of and it's really not about can it pass the Democrat controlled House, but in negotiation with the Trump administration in the Senate?

Well, here's what broke the logjam, Jordan. The President of the United States went to the Senate Republicans and said, no, no, no, I'm going to broker a deal with Speaker Pelosi. And if she won't come to the table and and and pass something, it'll be her fault, not ours. So the President saying I will chart out a middle ground is what broke that. Jordan, they can get it through. They have to pass the continuing resolution to fund the government.

I imagine in the end it'll probably be tacked on to that, but they'll work it out one way or another. Jordan, one other thing I did just want to really stress, though, eighty four million people watched the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Two factors I think are going to draw this number way higher.

I think it's going to go north of one hundred million. One, President Trump always draws. But two, Jordan, that eighty four million number, that was before people realized that Hillary Clinton was going to disappear off the campaign trail. People already know that Joe Biden is off the campaign trail and this is their opportunity to see him. So I think both candidates will drive that number higher. A lot of people, Jordan, watch these debates. I have a question for you, Jordan, from your campaign experience, and that is this. Let's say Biden does OK. Not fantastic, but OK. Do you change your tactic then and get him out on the right to tell people what could be coming the day after Joe Biden start campaigning all across the country?

Right. If he can hold it together for 90 minutes with Donald Trump, he can. He should be able to give a speech to crowds if he can draw crowds. If the liberals are not too PC to put together a crowd. But why not go to an airport hangar, do it outside where it's pretty safe with covid, you know, and you can make people wear masks if you want.

That's fine. Under his plan, he wants to do a mask mandate. A lot of things are going to come up tonight that you haven't even heard because you don't watch like MSNBC and they're not even MSNBC doesn't want to focus in on it too much because they know it would turn you away from it. Joe Biden's one of his first actions as President. He wants a nationwide mask mandate. I don't know where that power is in the Constitution. The police power is with the states, the 10th Amendment.

I mean, a nationwide mask mandate, you are losing the Midwest. So will Chris Wallace bring it up or does Donald Trump have to bring it up? And I think that will be something, remember, President Trump is going to be able to learn from this debate how much he's got to bring up those kind of issues. But you do think there'll be some campaigning after this if he does OK? If Biden does OK.

If not, it's going to be like what fans say, like Hillary Clinton where it goes quiet. What do you think on the military side, Wes, really quickly because we're less than a minute here. On the military issues, how do you see the juxtaposition, the two candidates?

I think there's no comparison. The President, you know, morale in the military is at an all time high. He has rebuilt the military, especially our aviation assets and our Navy ships.

President former Vice President Biden was part of the Obama administration when the military suffered, I mean, really, truly suffered both in recruitment and weapons platforms and other equipment. Consolidation. Yeah. Yeah. And the vice President was a part of that.

And if you look at his spending proposals, I think he's going to do the same thing again. Yeah. I think, you know, there's a lot to a lot could happen in this debate. We'll take your calls.

We get back 1-800-684-3110. But the expectations are like low. But also, I mean, think about what we're talking about, very high for what can happen within 90 minutes. Moderator plays a role, strong personalities on both sides, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. If Joe Biden comes to be like the old Joe Biden, he's got very kind of that's similar to President Trump, but they could both they can both go at it. But Joe Biden's campaign has supposedly been telling him, don't engage President Trump that way. Didn't work for Hillary Clinton because he just throws in the one liners after you talk. So Joe Biden, I think, will have to respond. He's not that type who's going to let that go. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected.

Is there any hope for that culture to survive? And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, plan parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success, but here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.

Welcome back to JCEC Your Life. So tomorrow's interesting too, because so you'll have the analysis coming in. We'll have Rick Grenell on doing the post-debate analysis. Also Comey testifying. I don't know. What time is that?

It's at nine in the morning, something like that. It'd be interesting to see if Comey's testimony, if he just kind of throws everything off on Peter Strachan and the other actors and say, you know, it's not really, it wasn't me. I didn't make the mistakes. You sure did that in his movie.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. It was my team that made all the mistakes. I was the, you know, the figurehead and my team made a lot of mistakes. And that's not something I would have known about. I watched 25 minutes last night and shut up because one, it's just that they're going, well, that's not true. Well, that's not what happened.

And I think I would know. And then the stuff that they did get accurately did not portray him in a very good light. No, it's hard to portray Jim Coe. He's not likable. No, he's not. He's a pompous person and pompous people. You know, he's, he has nothing very human about him.

Maybe because he's eight feet tall. Maybe because he's so pompous and because he takes, you know, he says things like everything was fine. Yeah, we screwed up a Pfizer, but other than spying on Americans is a small, I think we did everything pretty good. There's a great line in there where Reince Priebus, who they tried to make look ridiculous, but Reince is a smart guy. And Reince Priebus asks Jim Comey, did you get a Pfizer on General Flynn? And Comey in a smug way says, that is exactly the kind of question that you're not supposed to ask me.

You should go to your White House counsel and have him make the request through the department of the deputy attorney general. Wait a minute. And then Reince Priebus says, okay, did you get a Pfizer warrant on General Flynn? And I thought actually that was telling.

Yeah. Because Jim Comey didn't follow the rules. They have Sally Yates go after Jim Comey. Why are you trying to do my job? Don't do my job.

Stop doing my job. Of course, she later called him rogue. Yes, she did call him rogue. So from both, I've said this from the beginning, he is disliked from both sides, except the media keeps trying to rewrite his story. It's weird to me that the media keeps trying to rewrite a story because you know, and while we're on the air right now, Mike Flynn is still having hearings. I just checked. You know, I mean, so this is... Our friend Ted Groves, who's a great lawyer, is checking in with us.

I guess they're in a break of some kind. Yeah. So I mean, this is still going on. You know, people have called him, is Mike Flynn going to get restitution? He's still in the hearings. He's still not had these charges dropped. So we haven't gotten to that point yet.

All right. Here, let's go take the phone calls. And again, we're going to have great analysis tomorrow, so definitely want to join us for this post-debate analysis.

We'll watch the Comey hearings as well. Let's go to John in New York, then we'll go to Debra in Delaware. John, welcome to JCECio Live. Thank you very much. Hey, Joe.

How are you doing? I'm not concerned about Chris Wallace taking control of the debate. What I'm concerned about is the live fact checking by mainstream media, ticket taping it on the screen. So obviously they're not going to ticket tape information, excuse me, that's in favor of Trump. Yeah, I think that's baked into the situation. You know where they're going to go. Now, I think Trump's team has to be aggressive in getting out the messages on why it's correct, why the information shared is correct, but again, the debates have lost so much esteem, Jordan. I wonder what the play on that's going to be.

Yeah. I mean, we all know CNN's Cryon and MSNBC's Cryon are never going to be good. Oh, I can tell you what night they're going to say.

Liar, liar. They're going to have David Axelrod and here, let me tell you, this was, I could tell right now what he's going to say tonight. This was Joe Biden's best night. I have never seen, people thought that Joe Biden couldn't do it. Well, they found out tonight he could. They've already got their lines written, unless it's a real disaster.

Right. They'll be honest if it's got to be, but I mean, a disaster like that we all saw, not like he had a mistake here, a mistake there. I think they've got to be fair, Joe Biden, let's say he has a decent night. Is he convincing anybody to vote for him?

That's the second question. Even if you are showing that you are, I guess, coherent, competent, Joe Biden has a lot of that to play into tonight. He has to show that he could even be President of the United States because he's made the weird comment that if someone pushes me off the top of a building, very Middle Eastern, that Kamala Harris can be President on day one.

He's thinking already in the sense that I don't come across as someone who can actually be in charge. I want to ask this to fans. So what is the sense across the street right now? What are the, I know how everybody's lowered these expectations. I'll ask you this West to kind of what you're hearing, but what is it in Washington right now?

When I was there last week, expectations were very low. Well, this is, you know, Joe Biden's a Washington guy, Jay. So more people here in Washington still, I would say now are probably more familiar with Joe Biden than they are Donald Trump.

And by the way, I think that's why the American people sent Donald Trump here is because they didn't want sort of the club around. But look, it's not polite to say, but I actually think what Jordan just said is what a lot of people are thinking. Can Joe Biden go 90 minutes toe to toe against Donald Trump and not lose his train of thought in a significant way. And to the question of whether or not he can be President, Jay, I think senators quietly are asking, look, we've got COVID, we've got the economy, we've got the race, we've got the Supreme court.

Is this a guy that's up to the challenge? I don't think you'll hear any of them say that publicly, Jay, but I actually do think they're asking that question behind the scenes. People who find Joe Biden likable, and in my dealings with him when I was at Dover, he is quite a likable guy, but it's a question of whether or not he can really articulate policies that are in sync with the American people. Vice President Biden has drifted enormously to the left and most Americans are center center right. They will give him a respectful hearing, but I'm not sure that even some Democrats are all that keen about what Joe Biden might do as President.

Some of them are hoping that perhaps Kamala Harris will be the de facto President. All right, let's go to Deborah in Delaware on line six, the home state of Joe Biden. He spent a lot of time in his Delaware bunker, uh, Deborah, welcome to JCECO live. Hi, thank you. Hello.

Good afternoon. Um, basically I want to see President Trump tonight draw out the truth from Joe Biden about his, uh, policies that he's going to implement if he becomes President. And I also want to see the President, um, force Joe Biden to talk about his failures.

Well, I mean, that's going to, it's going to be interesting. Will Joe Biden see them as failures? There's interesting things like, why were you, you know, you can't like, for instance, Joe Biden can't take credit for Osama bin Laden. That was something that, that, uh, uh, Obama could, but Joe Biden was a no vote, right?

So if you want to go forward, that's another knife in the, in the side is you bring up, I got back daddy. You were no one on Osama bin Laden. So you can't even take credit when, when President Obama did something good.

You were the guy who said, don't do it. And I think that that's key. That's very key. I want to play van Jones statement that he made. This was during the Biden's convention speech kind of sets it right up, go. And we were prepared for it to be a terrible speech. As long as he didn't embarrass himself, we were going to come out here and praise it. You don't have to make nothing up tonight. Joe Biden did that thing.

So that I think you're going to hear that unless he really messes up himself. I mean, that is a such a low bar. That's not even like you did good.

That's not a bar. That's like you embarrassed yourself. That means you did that. You not only did had bad night. All right.

It was your fault. So let me ask you this. So what? Okay. So let's say he comes out. Okay. Let's say Trump wins. I don't think he will.

I think he's going to melt. Okay. That's my opinion. I have opinions. I can think we should all do that. Let's go an hour and a half.

Let's go an hour and a half. How does he campaign then afterwards if he melts? Disaster. The fallout. This is the Hillary Clinton moment where they start falling over in the street. They start losing their cool.

His age is going to show even more. Kamala Harris has been horrendous. She couldn't even name a rapper who is living. I mean, during the NAACP, this is at the NAACP event where she knows she knew the question and she's done it three times with Tupac, unless she believes Tupac's still alive. Okay. Many do. Okay.

I'm not strong on rappers, but I think Joe Biden will probably do better than most people are thinking. Jay, that bar is on the floor. I'm not sure how you don't clear that. Wes?

Yeah. I agree with Dan. I mean, the bar is very, very low. If he can really put complete sentences together and sort of stand there and look like he's really with the program, that will be considered a success. I will tell you my view. I think he's going to have a tough night.

Oh yeah. Because this is not- His son is a sex trafficker. It's not scripted. His front line is going to be out tonight. It's not scripted.

Most people don't know. Nope. He's not scripted. He's not getting help. He's going to be there by himself. We're going to see who shows up tonight.

We will see, and we'll have full analysis with Rick Renell tomorrow on Jay Sekio Live. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you, and if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.