Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Image via Twitter

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for no debates between President Trump and Joe Biden this morning at a press conference. Her statement validates the creeping belief among Trump supporters that Democrats are fearful of the specter of Trump facing down an increasingly doddering Biden on the national stage.

Pelosi backed her statement with the notion that a debate would "belittle what the debates are supposed to be about."

"I do not think that the President of the United States has comported himself in a way that anybody should--he--uh, and eh, eh--that has any association with truth, evidence, data, and facts. I wouldn't, I wouldn't, legitimize a conversation with him, nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States."

--Nancy Pelosi

The optics of this announcement are ugly. From the cutesy and disingenuous delivery of, "Don't tell anybody I told you...especially...Joe Biden" to the visual of Pelosi waving the white flag for the Biden campaign, it's a bad, bad look. The idea that presidential debates shouldn't be held because Trump doesn't pass Pelosi's personal etiquette test is preposterous.

Everyone knows why.

It remains to be seen how this dishonesty will play with Democratic voters, but even some lefty pundits conceded that this announcement was poor judgment, such as CNN's Sarah Westwood.

What say you, Biden handlers campaign?