Adam Boulton: Donald Trump’s cosy Carlson interview shows why carefully curated TV debates are needed on both sides of the Atlantic
Donald Trump is making a mockery of TV debates just as he has trashed so many other norms of decent behaviour and democratic politics.
He has opted out of the first two debates between the candidates vying for the Republican nomination in next year’s US presidential election.
That does not mean that he is missing out on saturation coverage in the media. Rather than appearing on stage with the people competing against him, and who mostly refuse to criticise him anyway, he sat down for a rambling interview on his own terms with the former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.
Trump is not the only leading politician doing his best to avoid meeting their opponents on the equal ground of a TV debate.
In the past decade, prime ministers David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson all opted out of properly organised and regulated debates.
The three leaders debates in 2010 between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg, brought about by the Sky News campaign, are still the only time that British viewers have had the benefit of debates between potential PMs to match the presidential debates which have been a feature of US politics since Nixon v JFK in 1960.
Cameron, Clegg and Brown faced off against each other in the 2010 debates
America’s presidential debates have provided the model for other countries to aspire to. Now Trump is undermining that example.
2024 is set to be a double election year in the US and UK. Politicians and the media in both countries need to start considering how debates can serve the public – by informing them fairly about the democratic choices facing them – rather than contributing to the erosion of public confidence and respect for representative democracy.
Nobody can say that Trump is not media savvy. He built his public image as the boss on the US version of The Apprentice and by putting his name to ghost-written books about “The Art Of The Deal”.
His freewheeling conversation with Tucker Carlson revealed that he is as skilled as ever at manipulating the media to his own advantage.
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Trump skips Republican debate
During his interview he praised the medium he was appearing on – a pre-recorded interview released on X, formerly known as Twitter – and derided cable news.
“We will get better ratings using this crazy forum that you are using than probably the debate,” he jeered.
He rubbed further salt into the wounds of Fox News Channel – which hosted the Republican debate, which sacked Carlson, and which has been promoting alternatives to Trump – by describing Mike Wallace, Fox’s main debate moderator in the last two election cycles, as “a b***** little man”.
Wallace has since moved to CNN – a more frequent target of Trump’s animosity but which has also found it hard to resist the ratings he brings. Earlier this year there were ructions at the network leading to the departure of its CEO after it gave a platform to Trump, who appeared alone and unchallenged on a full-length TV “town hall” show.
Mainstream broadcasters are struggling to produce even-handed, non-partisan, election events. Unscrupulous candidates have an increasing number of invitations to appear on less rigorous outlets such as GB News or X instead.
Elon Musk, X’s proprietor, is trying to make it a forum for right of centre political discourse, as exemplified by his technically disastrous hosting of the Ron DeSantis campaign launch.
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Trump: ‘We did nothing wrong at all’
Trump is boycotting the debates while his rivals attack each other and winnow out the field to his advantage.
Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, was widely seen as the winner in the Fox debate, but his policies are so close to Trump’s that they hardly threaten the original.
After they failed to make an impression there seems little point in the two least known candidates, Asa Hutchinson and Doug Burgum, staying in the race.
Trump’s biggest rival Ron DeSantis turned in a lacklustre performance, as did Tim Scott. Three critics of Trump – Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and Chris Christie – are also still notionally in contention.
Their anti-Trump stances might appeal to the wider electorate but seem certain to cost them the support of the Republican party activists who vote in the primaries.
Trump is already hailing his fourth set of criminal charges, this time in the state of Georgia, as an opportunity to boost his support among Republicans and to rake in more donations to his campaign.
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Trump mugshot released
Carlson gave Trump the chance to say what he wanted without being challenged. He gloated that he had turned the convention on its head “that when someone gets indicted their numbers go down”.
Instead “I got indicted four times” and “I’m leading by 50 or 60 points” in the Republican nomination race. “Do I sit there [in a debate]… and get harassed by people who shouldn’t even be running for president?”. His answer is no.
As his rivals grappled with each other, Trump had the chance to get in some telling blows on his ultimate rival, Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee presumptive.
“I think he’s worse mentally than he is physically, and physically he is not exactly a triathlete.”
His cruel jibes about octogenarian Biden’s state of health raise important questions about presidential debates assuming Biden and Trump are the nominees.
Read more from Adam Boulton:
75 MPs to step down as ‘change election’ looms. Who’s going to replace them?
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The growing list of ‘presenticians’ as lines blur between broadcast news and campaigning politicians
The two men debated each other twice during the 2020 campaign under the auspices of the Presidential Debates Commission. A scheduled third debate was cancelled because Trump caught COVID-19.
Biden “won” both debates according to opinion polls. But Biden is now four years older and frailer. There is a danger that Trump could hijack debates between them to brutally expose Biden’s frailty – to the exclusion of all else.
Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer lack charisma but the public needs to see them debate real issues at election time
In the UK, neither Rishi Sunak nor Keir Starmer have shown any enthusiasm for election debates.
Both men lack charisma but one or other of them will be the next prime minister.
The public needs to see them debate the real issues facing the country at election time – away from the awkwardly structured Punch and Judy at PMQs.
Broadcasters and regulators should be working together to hold a single head-to-head between the two to take place during the campaign.
One debate would surely not detract from the rest of the campaign in the way that it is claimed by some that three debates did in 2010.
There are some tough issues to be faced. The debate should not be “owned” by any network but rather staged in the public interest.
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There is no need for participation by any third force. The Liberal Democrats’ electoral performance over the past decade does not justify participation and the SNP are a single-issue party, not relevant to the vast majority of UK voters and without the capacity to nominate a prime minister.
The influence of broadcast television is waning but it is still the most powerful news medium in the world.
Properly managed TV debates are still the best way to inform the wider voting public about the democratic choices before them – by watching the debates themselves and through the comment and analysis which percolates through afterwards.
Carefully curated debates on both sides of the Atlantic in 2024 would prove that broadcasters can be part of the solution rather than, inadvertently, contributing to the further degradation of democratic politics.
US
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s ex Cassie gives birth two weeks after testifying against him – as his bid for mistrial is dismissed
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s ex-partner has given birth two weeks after testifying against him – as his legal team failed in a bid to declare a mistrial.
Cassie Ventura gave birth to her third child with partner Alex Fine after going into labour on Tuesday, a close source told Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Wednesday.
The news was later confirmed by her friend and former stylist Deonte Nash, who told Diddy‘s trial that he last spoke to her “after she had the baby yesterday [Tuesday]”.
Diddy trial day eleven – as it happened
Combs, 55, is accused of two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, and one of conspiring to racketeer. He denies all the charges.
Cassie had given evidence while she was more than eight months pregnant. The 38-year-old told the trial that Diddy subjected her to physical, sexual and mental abuse for much of their 11-year relationship.
She alleged he forced her into “hundreds” of drug-fuelled sex sessions with male escorts while he watched, which he referred to as “freak offs”.
News of the birth came on the same day Combs’s legal team tried in vain to get the judge to declare a mistrial.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs depicted in a court sketch on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
Diddy and Cassie at an event in 2016. Pic: zz/JMA/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
Alexandra Shapiro, one of Diddy’s attorneys, moved for the mistrial just before the court broke for lunch, during evidence by Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) arson investigator Lance Jiminez.
According to Ms Shapiro, Mr Jiminez’s claim that police destroyed fingerprint evidence collected at the scene of an alleged 2012 Molotov cocktail attack on rapper Kid Cudi’s car would lead the jury to believe Combs had something to do with it.
She accused the prosecution of “misconduct” and claimed their questioning of Mr Jiminez was “designed to play into that” narrative.
Another of Diddy’s defence lawyers Marc Agnifilo described the prosecution’s conduct as “outrageous”.
However, prosecution attorney Christy Slavik hit back by saying a mistrial was “completely unwarranted”.
She insisted questions about the destruction of evidence were asked to highlight the poor quality of the police investigation.
Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed the motion and instead told jurors to disregard any reference to the fingerprints.
Earlier on Wednesday, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer Chris Ignacio detailed the alleged break-in at Kid Cudi’s home in December 2011.
LAPD officer Chris Igancio is questioned by Diddy’s attorney on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
He was called to the scene and noticed a Cadillac Escalade parked in front of the property, the number plate for which later transpired to be registered to Bad Boy Productions, Diddy’s record label.
During his evidence, Cudi alleged it was Diddy who was behind the break-in.
Rapper Kid Cudi outside court last week. Pic: AP
Mr Jiminez then testified about an alleged Molotov cocktail attack on Cudi’s car the following month.
Having investigated the incident, he concluded it was “not a random act” and that the makeshift firebomb had been placed there deliberately, in line with Cudi’s claims.
LA arson investigator Lance Jiminez is questioned in court. Pic: Reuters
When Diddy and Cassie’s former stylist Mr Nash took to the stand, he detailed several incidents of alleged violence inflicted on the singer by her then partner.
On one occasion, Diddy turned up at her LA flat, “grabbed her by the hair”, “kicked her” and “hit her pretty hard”, he claimed.
A court sketch of Deonte Nash, a former stylist to Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura. Pic: Reuters
When she hit her head on a bed frame, she suffered a gash to her forehead and eyebrow, he said.
Both he and Mia, a second alleged witness, jumped on the rapper’s back to get him to stop, he told the court.
Following another incident when Diddy demanded to see Cassie, she threatened to “go over the balcony”, Mr Nash told the jury.
Diddy was violent towards him too, he said, once choking him against a car and threatening him not to go out with Cassie and without him.
Despite all this, Mr Nash said he “doesn’t hate” Diddy – and that he had been compelled to give evidence as part of a subpoena.
Mia, which is a pseudonym used to protect her identity, was due to start her evidence on Wednesday but Mr Nash’s testimony overran.
He will resume giving evidence on Thursday, with Mia’s evidence due to last until the court breaks for the weekend.
The trial continues.
US
US trade court blocks Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs – claiming he ‘exceeded his authority’
The Trump administration has stopped the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the US while it prepares to expand social media vetting of applicants.
A US official said on Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already have visa interviews scheduled.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document.
A downturn in enrolment of international students could hurt university budgets in the US.
To make up for cuts in federal research funding, some colleges previously shifted to enrolling more international students, who often pay full tuition.
Now, an internal cable signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and seen by the Associated Press news agency shows how new student visa interviews are being halted as the US State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting.
The cable says that “in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity” until the guidance is issued.
It also says the halting of new visa interviews is “effective immediately”.
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Asked about the suspension at a briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the US uses every available resource to vet people applying for visas.
“We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Ms Bruce said.
The move, first reported by Politico, is the latest in the White House’s crackdown on international students.
Last week, the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students, removing the college from the programme that allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas.
That effort was quickly challenged in court and for now is blocked by a federal judge.
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Harvard foreign student ban blocked
This spring the Trump administration also revoked the legal status of thousands of international students already in the country, leading some to leave the US out of fear of deportation.
After many students filed successful legal challenges, the administration said it was restoring the students’ legal status.
But the government also expanded the grounds for terminating international students’ legal status going forward.
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US President Donald Trump’s previous administration stepped up scrutiny of all visa applicants, introducing reviews of their social media accounts.
The policy remained during President Joe Biden’s administration.
An extended pause in scheduling student visas could lead to delays that may disrupt college, boarding school or exchange students’ plans to enrol in summer and autumn terms.
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