RFK Jr. says Trump ‘probably the most successful debater’ since Lincoln

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised former President Trump on Friday, saying the leading GOP candidate is “probably the most successful debater in this country since Lincoln-Douglas.”

Then-candidate Abraham Lincoln’s presidential debates with Sen. Stephen Douglas (D-Ill.) in 1858 are believed to have delivered Lincoln the presidency and been the first presidential debates.

Kennedy, an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and long-shot candidate for the Democratic nomination, said in a Fox News interview that it’s important for President Biden to debate during the primaries before going up against Trump, should he win the GOP nod.

“We’re gonna try to get the president to debate, we think it’s really important. It is important for the Democratic party because ultimately the president will have to debate a Republican, and likely, we don’t know, but it’s gonna be Trump,” he said.

“[Trump] has his own technique that people like, and it is like going to a prize fight and you need practice. And that usually happens during a primary, and asking [Biden] not to debate during the primary is like asking a prize fighter to practice for his big bout by sitting on the couch and eating Chick-fil-A,” he added.

Biden’s team has shrugged off requests from Kennedy and other opponents to debate the president.

While Kennedy is encouraging Biden to debate him for practice, Trump has signaled he also isn’t interested in debating his primary opponents.

Trump has said joining debates while polls show him 30 or more points ahead of his closest rival would be a waste of time. That threat has received mixed reactions from GOP officials.

Kennedy is far behind Biden in Democratic primary polls. A national poll last month found Biden with a 53-point lead over Kennedy, his strongest primary opponent.