Green Beret Tim Kennedy, who is the founder of Sheepdog Response, spoke with the Daily Caller in an exclusive interview about why he supports American comedian and podcast host Joe Rogan moderating a debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Kennedy, who recently appeared on Rogan’s podcast, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience,” raised the question about whether or not Rogan would be interested in moderating a debate between Trump and Biden.
“You be the control mechanism to the candidates — like [a] Biden-Trump debate with Joe Rogan hosting,” Kennedy said during the podcast.
During an interview with the Daily Caller, Kennedy said, “as we can see from the thousands and tens of thousands of retweets, comments, shares — it’s what people want.”
I do! https://t.co/H9Eghnqpuy
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2020
“I think the reason podcasts have gained so much popularity is because of long-form debate about issues.” (RELATED: Donald Trump Says ‘I Do’ To Joe Rogan-Moderated Debate With Biden)
He continued, “I feel, and I know that most of my friends feel, that this short, soundbite, click era of communication that we’re living in is the worst form of communication that people could possibly have. The way that debates are currently set up — we don’t ever learn about the policies or ideas of the respective candidates.”
“I’m [a] pretty down-the-middle libertarian that is needing information about my candidates. I don’t want a 10-second ad. I don’t want a 30-second ad. I don’t want to watch a debate that is essentially curated by a network that has [a] bias.”
In August, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated during a press conference that she does not “think there should be any” debates between Trump and Biden.
“It’s frightening,” Kennedy told the Caller. “Any time that you can’t have your ideas be pressure-tested, that your ideas can’t go through a refiner fire, they’re not real ideas.”
A debate moderated by Rogan, and having a similar style moving forward, would make “candidates have to know what they are talking about,” Kennedy told the Caller.
“[Rogan] is deceivingly intelligent. He’s pretty wicked-smart about a variety of issues,” he explained to the Caller. “When somebody’s talking — anybody that goes on his podcast from Elon Musk to Mike Tyson to Miley Cyrus — as that person’s talking he has the kind of ingenuity to ask the questions that everybody wants to know.”
He added, “the ability to listen is something that’s lost in this generation whether it’s interpersonal development or intelligence or confidence. People are so partisan right now — you can’t even listen to opposing ideas.”
“[Rogan] is unique in the sense that because he is so questioning about everything, he wants to know more. The precedent that would be set is, you as the candidate — you would have to go into this new debate format with not your talking points, not essentially a whole bunch of diluted versions of your commercials, you would have to legitimately know about your positions,” Kennedy told the Caller.
Kennedy emphasized how “that used to be the point of the debate — was to take the ideas and compare them and be able to pressure-test which one is the better idea. Now, it’s two hours of baloney.”
“I want to know about what you believe and what you stand for,” he said, “and what you are going to do with this country if you have control.” (RELATED: Trump Says He Will Call For Drug Tests Before Biden Debate)
He also said “the current format of debates [serves] no purpose to the voters. It’s a popularity contest.”
“The position of Commander in Chief of the greatest country in the world — the largest, most powerful superpower. This should not be a popularity contest. This should be a test of our ideas between candidates.”
Kennedy said, “they can push and launch a nuclear weapon,” he pointed out to the Caller. “They can adjust the commerce and economy of the entire globe off of policies that they make. Why do we not want that candidate to be able to understand, believe and speak to their ideas? “