One of The New York Times’ most prominent columnists wants Team Biden to rethink the ground rules agreed upon for the upcoming three debates between the presumed Democratic presidential nominee and President Donald Trump.

“I worry about Joe Biden debating Donald Trump,” wrote Thomas Friedman on Tuesday. “He should do it only under two conditions. Otherwise, he’s giving Trump unfair advantages.”

Friedman, who has won the Pulitzer Prize three times, argued that Biden should not appear at the debates unless Trump releases his tax returns. The columnist also insists that a “real-time fact-checking team approved by both candidates” should be included in the debates.

Ten “minutes before the scheduled conclusion of the debate this team report on any misleading statements, phony numbers or outright lies either candidate had uttered,” Friedman wrote. “That way no one in that massive television audience can go away easily misled.”

Friedman believes instituting these two conditions would put both candidates on even footing, especially as “Trump might very well lie and mislead for the entire debate, forcing Biden to have to spend a majority of his time correcting [him] before making his own points.”

“He should not go into such a high-stakes moment ceding any advantages to Trump,” the columnist wrote. “Trump is badly trailing in the polls, and he needs these debates much more than Biden does to win over undecided voters.” This column comes in the wake of the Biden campaign agreeing to take part in only three debates between both presidential candidates. The Trump campaign has pushed for more than three debates.

Some liberals have expressed worries that even three debates could be potentially damaging to Biden, who is well known to be gaffe-prone, which could be a disaster for the Democrats on television. They worry this could significantly diminish the current healthy lead the former vice president currently has in most polls. As for Biden’s perspective, he said last week after a speech in Delaware that he “can hardly wait” to face Trump on the debate stage.

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This piece originally appeared in ThePoliticalInsider.com and is used by permission.

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