‘This is a colossal waste of time': Pundits and Biden supporters call for him to drop out of remaining debates

‘I don’t think the country will be yearning for these,’ says David Axelrod

Political pundits, alongside supporters of the Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden, have called for the former vice president to drop out of the remaining two debates, after he was interrupted multiple times by Republican nominee Donald Trump.

During Tuesday’s presidential debate, which is planned to be the first of three before 3 November’s election, Mr Trump repeatedly spoke over Mr Biden and avoided answering questions posed by moderator Chris Wallace.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and a former Republican congressman, told the former vice president that he should refuse to take part in any more debates.

Mr Scarborough, who left the Republican party to became an Independent after Mr Trump became president, wrote: “This is a colossal waste of the American people’s time.

“If they are not going to cut his mic so we can have an exchange of ideas, then Biden should not attend any more debates.”

He added: “Hey Team Biden, if this continues you, pull him off the stage. And do not do anymore debates. This is a disgrace.”

David Axelrod, who worked with Mr Biden while a senior adviser to former president Barack Obama, said that he should consider not attending the two future debates, according to The Hill.

“I think Biden has a decision to make,” he said. “I don’t think the country will be yearning for these.

“You know what will happen if Biden says he doesn’t want to dignify another debate. I don’t think the country wants another one of these spectacles.”

However, he later tweeted: “Crazy to think @JoeBiden wouldn’t show up for the next debate. First, he won last night.  Second, the next debate is a Town Hall, which plays to Biden’s strength and Trump’s weakness. @realDonaldTrump is the one who should be reconsidering!”

Journalist Eric Boehlert uploaded an article to PressRun.Media on Monday morning titled, “call off the next two debates,” which he shared on Twitter with the caption: “It’s not possible to stage a two-person debate when one of them is a sociopath.”

In the article, Mr Boehlert wrote: “Trump turned Tuesday’s presidential debate not only into a brawl, but also a national embarrassment.

“Behaving like a petulant teenager, Trump rolled his eyes, constantly interrupted, hectored, tried to pick fights, and generally made a fool of himself as more than 80 million Americans tuned in, most of whom were likely thinking, ‘What have we become as a nation?’”

The move was also supported by Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia’s Centre for Politics, who tweeted: “CANCEL THE REMAINING PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES.

“It is impossible to have an orderly, productive exchange with Donald Trump. Stop pretending otherwise.”

Walter Shaub, the former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics during the Obama administration, also echoed the arguments of others.

He tweeted: “Cancel the other debates. This is stupid. Trump is only there to grunt, scratch and howl.”

However, Mr Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris dismissed the idea that the former vice president will refuse to take part in any future debates.

Speaking on CNN, Ms Harris said: “Joe Biden’s never going to refuse to talk to the American people.”

In a call with reporters, which included members of The Hill, Biden deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield said: “We are going to the debates, guys. I don’t know how many different ways we can say it. Yes, we are going to do the debates.

She added: “I would imagine there will be some additional conversations [with the Commission on Presidential Debates]. But yeah, we are committing to attending the debates.”

The second presidential debate is scheduled to take place on 15 October in Miami with C-SPAN's Steve Scully moderating.