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- President Donald Trump on Tuesday night appeared to suggest that podcast host and UFC commentator Joe Rogan should moderate the next presidential debate.
- Trump retweeted a post from conservative media executive Tyler Gardon which posited that Rogan “would do a much better job” than Fox News anchor Chris Wallace did earlier that night.
- Wallace received widespread criticism for his chairing of the debate, as he struggled to stop the president interrupting his rival Joe Biden.
- Rogan did not seem keen on chairing any debate, suggesting that legendary MMA referee “Big” John McCarthy take the reins instead.
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President Donald Trump once again appeared to suggest that podcast host and UFC commentator Joe Rogan should moderate the presidential debates, after criticism of the performance of Fox News host Chris Wallace on Tuesday night.
During a lengthy Twitter spree after the debate, Trump retweeted a post from Tyler Cardon, the CEO of conservative media company Blaze Media, which suggested that Rogan should have taken the reins of the debate instead of Wallace.
“Regardless who you’re pulling for, I think we can all agree that Joe Rogan would do a much better job moderating this thing than Chris Wallace,” Cardon tweeted. The post was then retweeted by the president.
—Tyler Cardon (@TyCardon) September 30, 2020
Wallace received widespread criticism for his handling of the debate, which degenerated into the president hurling insults at his rival and Biden eventually imploring Trump to “shut up,” and calling him a “clown.”
On several occasions Wallace was unable to prevent Trump from interrupting Biden, including one stretch where the president spoke over Biden ten separate times in under three minutes.
—The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 30, 2020
The debate was described by Business Insider's John Haltiwanger as a "disaster," while CNN's chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper called it a "hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck."
Regardless of pleas for him to take over moderating the debates, including from cyclist Lance Armstrong, Rogan did not seem keen.
Soon after Trump's retweet he posted on Instagram and Twitter that instead of him, the next debate should be moderated by "Big" John McCarthy, a legendary UFC referee, and current commentator for Bellator MMA.
"You don't need me to handle this 'debate,' you need @johnmccarthymma," Rogan wrote in an Instagram post featuring a picture of Trump and Biden.
McCarthy seemed coy on the idea, responding to a fan's tweet imploring him to step in by writing "[sic] lmmfao," an acronym for "laughing my f---ing a-- off."
Earlier in September Trump randomly agreed to an extra debate with Biden if Rogan was given moderation duties, tweeting "I do!" when retired UFC star Tim Kennedy suggested a debate held on Rogan's podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience."
While it seems unlikely that an MMA commentator will be the moderator for the next debate between Trump and Biden, it certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen in 2020.
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