After winning a coin toss, President Biden’s campaign team had an important choice to make: They could either choose which podium Biden will stand behind or whether Biden will have the last word at his first presidential debate with Donald Trump. Glenn and Stu are shocked to find out that they chose … the podium. So, why would the Biden team allow Trump — who they call a danger to democracy — to have the last word?! Is his entire campaign team that incompetent?! Glenn and Stu discuss this, along with the other weird rules for CNN’s debate.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Donald Trump is going to be debating Dr. Death really, is what I'm calling him. He's just -- he's deadly. He will walk out on stage.

He will just wipe the floor with Donald Trump. I think that's what we should start saying. Because we're setting expectations so low for him, and so high for Donald Trump, that unless it is, you know, something where it's body blow after body blow after body blow. And it's done perfectly right after Donald Trump, he will appear to be the loser. I think people's expectations now are just, he didn't fall asleep.

He didn't fall asleep.

STU: I think it's a real worry. You know, because that is how people look at this situation, in a lot of ways. I do think though, it is hard to -- I don't know if you can blame people who are saying these things. And setting these expectations.

Because I think at the end of the take, those expectations were set by Joe Biden. When he, you know, waddles across the stage and can't get a sentence out. I don't know how you hide it.

I don't --

GLENN: Because that -- you know, look, as bad as the State of the Union Address actually was.

It looked good, because he had -- you know, he was like pounding on the desk. You know, that's got to stop. And he was awake and alert. And could form sentences for most of it!

You know, that is the expectation. And I think they -- and I have no proof of this. But it's happened before, with presidents, and you don't know about it for 20 years. Or 60 years. In FDR's case.

They juiced him up. You know, they'll go out and they will give him. Hey, is Dr. Nick around?

Make him perform. And so he looks good in -- he looks better.

STU: Right.

GLENN: Then what he really is, I think.

STU: His biggest moments have not been his best moment.

Which has been something -- I guess give them credit for whatever cocktail they've come up with.

GLENN: Right.

STU: I don't know. I will say though. What I'm saying is, I don't know if you can blame like conservatives for pointing it out.

Like, it's -- it's like, the setting of expectations, is a rhetorical device, right? You can put it out there.

And you can adjust that slightly. But I just think the American people see it. And that's what they expect. So the fact that he exceeds those expectations. I don't know if that can be manipulated on a party's messaging on the other side.

It will be interesting to watch. Because I honestly -- he really does need. You know, Biden took this debate. And kind of threw it out there. Like, I'll do this with you anywhere, any time.

And Trump is like, okay.

So he's taken on a bunch of weird rules. There's a bunch of strange stuff going on.

GLENN: First of all, they're sitting down.

STU: Yep.

GLENN: There's no audience. You can't interrupt one another.

I guess they're shutting Donald Trump's microphone off.

I mean, all the things that would -- that would help Donald Trump, have been taken off the table.

And now, the press is saying, I don't know why Donald Trump would do this. I mean, every -- every rule is in Biden's favor. Yeah.

Because he knows that when it comes to inflation, cost of living, war, everything else, you don't -- he doesn't have a lot to defend here. You know what I mean?

He's going to have a hard time defending it, if he was crystal clear, even on meth! You know, whatever it took, give him meth!

And he was just great. And thought he could fly. He still would lose on the facts. And I think Donald Trump was like, all right.

We'll take you.

I don't care what your rules are. Fine.

STU: No. And he has to. He has to.

To get in the -- you know, the same room of Joe Biden, in front of the American people is crucial for Donald Trump.

And he has to defend stuff like the border. We've talked about this for a while, going back now, a couple of World Series.

We're now finding out, that hundreds of thousands of people have come in these additional legal pathways. It's something we talked about on the air, at the time. To ease the, quote, unquote, pressure at the border.

The Biden administration went in there and said, basically, well, fly direct into these cities. And make appointments. And we won't count those as people coming into the country.

And that's happened now, with hundreds of thousands of people. The numbers just came out. They're really high. As you might expect.

And these aren't people that were counting them. When we're talking about how many people are crossing the border illegally. And coming through with asylum and all these other things that they're complaining about. They just took those people that would have been at the border, and flew them into Cleveland. And they're like, well, that solved the problem at the border. No. That didn't solve the problem at the border. Let me ask you this, Glenn. From a strategy perspective. I think this is fascinating, and I don't really understand it, and maybe you do. You know, when you go into overtime of a football game, right? You have the coin toss.

The coin toss, you have a choice as to what you want to do with that power. If you win the coin toss, you can either pick the end zone you're going to defend, or you can pick whether you get the ball first or second.

And, you know, the only time you really want to pick, when you're talking about what end zone to defend, is if maybe super windy conditions, you can make the argument. You know, but generally speaking, you never pick that one.

You pick whether you want to get the ball first or second, because that's the more important thing. So with this debate, they did a coin toss. And the decision was similar here. They had a choice. Joe Biden won the coin toss. So he was give up a decision to make.

Number one, you can pick which side of the stage you can be on. Left's podium. Or right's podium.

Or which -- I mean -- or --

GLENN: That's the one -- I can guarantee you, no matter what the or is. He picked that one.

STU: Or you can pick whether in closing statements, you go first. Or you go last.

GLENN: You go last. That's the one --

STU: The obvious choice here, you go last, right?

You have the final word in front of the American people.

GLENN: Right. You go last. If Donald Trump says some crazy thing about Hunter Biden at the last second and his closing statement. You would have a chance to answer it. You would have a chance to have the final word of the American people here.

What a big advantage that is, right?

Joe Biden won the coin toss, and picked the right podium. And now Donald Trump will be making the final statement in the debate. Do you have any concept as to why he would do that?

GLENN: No. Let me throw another wrinkle into this. Joe Biden must make that decision. Okay? It wasn't like they called Joe up. Hey, we won a coin toss.

STU: Coin toss.

GLENN: And, you know, here are your choices.

I know why --

STU: The right side.

GLENN: This wasn't done by him. It was done by most likely a committee or something.

This is not just his senility. It's --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: From the people who brought you the end of the Afghani war. I mean --

STU: You think it's incompetence.

Because my other thought was, maybe they are thinking? And let me throw this out there.

Whatever drug cocktail they're pumping into this guy. He has to be pumped up after that first 40 minutes. By the end, it will be a disaster.

And the last thing that they want, is the final vision of this debate, to be Joe Biden going.

GLENN: That is -- that is a possibility. That is a possibility.

However, you know, the closing statements, if you have the last word. And you know he's going to be bad.

You're suspecting that he's going to be.

All Donald Trump has to say, for his closing statement is, look, I understand you for inflation. I understand what you're going at the gas pump.

I understand how you feel about your safety. And the border.

I understand how you feel about all of these things.

You just heard him. Is that the vigorous leader that's going to solve these problems?

I mean, there's just no way. I would never let somebody have the last word.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In a debate. And especially, if you think he's going to be like...

STU: It's -- that's an incomprehensible one. I mean, does he -- he thinks that highly of -- that's my good side. I want to be on the right side. What --

GLENN: That is a possibility.

STU: That is possible. I guess.

GLENN: Hookers tell me all the time, this is my best side. I'm going to get that sex worker vote this time. I'm telling you.

STU: That's a weird development. I'm telling you. I cannot understand that at all. But we are less than a week away from that debate. Never happened this early. This is a very, very strange situation that happened in June. All these rules. And the dates. All these things.

I think we were initially designed for Trump to say no.

To say -- I will make these rules and requests so ridiculous. I'll be the guy who will say, I wanted the debate. He will be the guy that says no.

GLENN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

So that way, he didn't have to debate later. Because I offered a debate.

He wouldn't do it. And most people wouldn't have remembered that it was in June and everything else.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Donald Trump had no way. Nowhere to go, but to say yes. And I think he's eager. I think he can't wait.

I mean, the chance to sit in front of Joe Biden. You know, the only problem is, I wish it was -- I wish it was actually fair. We would have a drug test beforehand.

You know, and -- and these guys would actually talk about things, instead of just pounding on each other.

Because Donald Trump would win -- anyone would win against this guy's record. Anyone would win.

STU: Yeah. And there was a report from I think it was Maggie Haberman from the New York Times. Who, again, is a left-wing journalist.

So you could say, maybe this is inaccurate. But she does seem to have a lot of sources inside the Trump camp.

And her point was interesting. And I think hopeful. If you are someone who wants to see Joe Biden no longer be president. Which is, Trump has told confidants, that he regretted cutting Biden off a lot in the first debate 2020. We pointed that out, at the time. Like, you needed to give Biden.

GLENN: Let him hang himself.

STU: Right. You needed to give him that space.

And he didn't. Because he was trying to be aggressive. And trying to cut him off.

And saying he was lying about this. Which he was doing at times. But you also have to give Biden room to look horrible. All the things we know he loves on a daily basis. The American people need to see that. And he regretted that from the 2020 debate. If that report is true, it's good. I think he's being thoughtful about the strategy here, which is really important. This is a really important day.

GLENN: I think he is.

You know, Donald Trump, he knows television.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And he just knows it.