CNN political commentator suggests Biden smile more to avoid 'resting old face' during debate
A former adviser to Vice President Harris told CNN on Sunday that President Biden should smile more during the debate to avoid "resting old face."
CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons suggested President Biden practice smiling more on Sunday while discussing the upcoming presidential debate and said the president had "resting old face."
"For President Biden, one more piece of advice, because this is still a physical, visual medium, he‘s kind of got resting old face, right? So he needs to smile and when he smiles, it goes away a little bit. When he smiles, his face comes to life. I would just say, they‘re practicing this, practice smiling," Simmons, who served as a communications director for Vice President Harris, said during CNN's "State of the Union."
CNN host Kaitlan Collins, political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin, political commentator Bakari Sellers and former adviser to Donald Trump, David Urban, weighed in on what to expect from the June 27 debate between Biden and former President Trump.
Simmons said he didn't feel like President Biden was talking about his plans for a second term specifically enough, adding, "I can‘t tell you exactly which policy to finish the agenda that they are really kind of basing this on."
Sellers said during the discussion that Biden's biggest problem was that he doesn't articulate a vision for the future.
"And that actually is being captive in age, because it’s hard for someone 81 years old to articulate a vision for a future they may not be a part of. If he's able to do that well, then we will see what happens," Sellers said.
The rules for the debate include no live audience, no consulting with campaign aides during commercial breaks, no props or prepared notes, and each candidate's microphone will be muted when it is not their turn.
Urban suggested Trump let Biden talk and encouraged him not to overstep.
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"I think if former President Trump were smart, he would just say to the crowd, ‘are you better off now than you were four years ago’ and then just let Joe Biden talk. Just let him talk. Don‘t try to overstep. Let him try to make his case, because he has a record to defend, of four years. So if I was Trump, that's what I'd do here," Urban said.
Griffin said having no live audience might benefit Trump during the debate because he tends to feed into the audience and get into a "bombastic mindset."
"I do worry for Biden on the energy. He got through the State of the Union, but that was a hometown crowd cheering for him. It’s right off of a teleprompter. This is quiet. Nobody is telling you you did a good job. No one is applauding for you and to keep the energy going for 90 minutes. It's a lot," Griffin said.
CNN's Van Jones suggested on Thursday that the debate was make or break for the president.
"Because if Biden goes out there and messes up, it’s game over. If he walks out there and a week later he’s lower in the polls, it’s panic in the party," he said. "But if he goes in there and he can handle himself against Donald Trump — a runaway train, a locomotive, a raging bull — then this guy deserves another shot to be president, because that is tough."
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.