President Joe Biden is dictating terms of the debates, asserts executive privilege to keep the public from hearing his damaging DOJ interview, insists the economy is great, and gets adoring press coverage.

Biden is so tightly protected that Republican Donald Trump may as well be running against a hologram.

You almost expect Biden to come out one day in bubble wrap.

He’s running on a false reality that the economy is humming along, despite the soaring cost of housing, food and fuel.

The media props him up, and undoubtedly will declare him the winner of the debates no matter how many gaffes he makes.

And now the public may never get a chance to hear his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur on the classified documents case in which a forgetful Biden rambles about his car.

“It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the President’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for criminal contempt of Congress,” Associate Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote to Republicans on the Judiciary Committee investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents.

Republicans called the move a “Hail Mary” and vowed to continue to pursue the case.

Hur has recommended Biden not be prosecuted, calling him a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

The prosecutor based that judgment on Biden’s five hour interview with Hur and others with a ghostwriter which could be severely damaging if the public got to hear them.

The president this week also blew off the Presidential Debate Commission and agreed to two debates with his Republican adversary, but only on his terms. The Biden campaign insisted on no crowds in the debate studio – effectively taking a big weapon out of Trump’s hands. The former president has been drawing tens of thousands of supporters on the campaign trail.

“Trump feeds off the crowd, they give him life,” a Biden adviser told Politico. “We wanted to take that away.”

Another condition insisted upon by Biden was that microphones can be cut off at any time – silencing Trump if he tries to actually engage in a real, back and forth debate. Another protection measure for Biden.

The first debate on June 27 will be sponsored by Democrat-leaning CNN, which ensures Biden will get favorable questions and coverage and Trump will be treated as the enemy.

And if Biden makes a major gaffe, he’ll have plenty of time to recover.

The debates also will exclude third party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., because Biden’s campaign doesn’t want Kennedy gaining any traction.

Trump made a tactical mistake by agreeing to any debates with Biden, opening the door for the Democratic president to control the debate format and network sponsors.

But the 81-year-old Biden is also taking a big risk by agreeing to any debates at all. The agreement to debate comes as new polling shows Biden trailing Trump in five key battleground states, panicking Democrats even more.

The debates may now be the only way for Biden to rescue his campaign. It’s a desperate act for a desperate president.