For President Trump, the debate prep, it looks a lot different than in 2016, when he hosted an hour-long discussion session featuring a cadre of campaign advisers led by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Led to his first discussion With J B Biden Tuesday, he has delivered with traditional formal rehearsals and scripted practices. Now, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, and Hope Hicks, an adviser to the president, have fed the president flash cards and videos to prepare him between an Air Force stop. Tuesday night.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly cited his study of the Democratic presidential candidate. “I don’t want to see, but I have a responsibility, you know. I compete with someone. You don’t want to compete with anyone and say I don’t see my competition.” Supporters at an airport hangar rally in Bemidji, Minnesota last week.
And while some are concerned about the president’s lack of preparedness, his advisers insist he is an “atypical candidate” and say he has close daily press releases and often “hostile” conversations with reporters reading them.
“The president is preparing to become president,” Tim Mertuth told CBS News. “And regularly facing hostile news media. By any means it is a very good practice.” A presidential spokesman added that when President Trump’s ABC News Town Hall took questions from “uncontested” voters last month, the president was pressured. “He faced a tough and challenging question, I think, to put it mildly. It was a workout of good discussion practice.”
“I think it was great,” Mr. Trump told supporters gathered in Minnesota on Sept. 18, he commented. “You know what I call it? ‘Debate prep.’ I call it ‘free debate prep’. ”
On Sunday, Mr. Trump said the “combination” of Christie and Giuliani plays Biden in a discussion role. But Mr. Trump added that taking questions from reporters could be a preparation for discussion.
“I think the whole thing is ready for discussion,” Mr. Trump told a White House news conference Sunday. “You know what I do is debate debate. Every day, I raise questions from your people from time to time.”
According to a campaign source familiar with the strategy, the Biden Debate Prep is taking place both at his Delaware home and, virtually, with longtime advisers and senior campaign executives.
Democrats are reviewing the president’s almost daily tweets about Biden, his record and his family, as they think the president will focus.
“People know the president is a liar,” Biden said in an MSNBC interview on Saturday. “He doesn’t know how to discuss the facts, because he’s not that smart.”
Biden added, “He doesn’t know many facts. He doesn’t know much about foreign policy. He doesn’t know much about domestic policy. He doesn’t know much about details.”
For his part, the campaign believes that Tuesday’s discussion topics – in particular, COVID-19, race and violence in cities, and electoral integrity – allow Biden to publish what he sees as the president’s most serious missteps. He is expected to repeat the criticisms the Trump administration has been using for the past few months.
Biden will also defend the Affordable Care Act and expect his fate, in part, to be tied to the nomination of Supreme Court Judge Amy Connie Barrett, as Democrats view the Obama-era candidate for healthcare plan as potentially hostile.
Campaign sources said top advisers were also trying to warn the former vice president to “weed out” the complex policy, as he wanted to do in the wake of the campaign and in the earlier primary controversy.
This stay-no-message focus may already be on display as Biden commented on the Supreme Court on Sunday and was asked by a journalist if he would extend the High Court.
“What I’m not going to do is play the Trump game, play a good game – look at that issue in front of us. If I had to say yes or no, it would be a big issue. The headlines here,” Biden said. , “I’m focused on one thing right now, and I mean: I’m focused on making sure that the American people understand that they’re being cut out of this process … to get away. Between epidemics ACA and Your healthcare. That’s the focus. ”
For months the Trump campaign surrogates and advisers have been sticking to Biden’s abilities for months – running ads accusing him of mental collapse and setting the “slow” line. Now, they are trying to raise Biden’s expectations on Tuesday.
“People have to remember that Biden has been a Washington politician for 47 years and spent decades in the Senate, where what he does is under discussion.” “In the Democratic primaries, he engaged in 11 debates and managed to overcome two dozen challenges. So, Joe Biden is a person who knows the way around the debate phase.”
Asked about the campaign’s repeated assessment of whether Joe Biden works in speaking conditions, Murtaghugh added, “I don’t think there’s a question that anyone who watches knows that sometimes Biden dominates, but when it takes time. That’s when he turns. “And that’s what we expect him to do on the night of the debate.”
“Maybe he’ll be great in the debate. You know he’s been doing it for 47 years,” President Trump told supporters Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida, echoing his campaign. “Someone said, ‘Oh, that wouldn’t do well in the discussion.’ I said, ‘I think you’re wrong. He’ll do well. He’ll do fine.’
Both campaigns are already accusing their opponents of lying before the debate begins.
“In terms of what he’s doing to prepare for the debate, he’s preparing for the debate. And he’s looking forward to being on stage with Donald Trump next week to present his vision for the country and hold Donald Trump accountable for the ways inside.” It has failed in this country, “Kate Beddingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said in a press call on Thursday in response to a question about discussion prep and strategy.” In terms of how the moderator chooses the context of the discussion, you know our hope is that it Donald will hold Trump accountable for things he says are just wrong and wrong deeds. But it will be on the mediator, and we’ll see ‘I choose to do it. ”
Trump campaign aides also told CBS News that they have studied Biden’s habits and tendencies, with the president reviewing previous debate tapes to create an “arsenal” for use when he takes the stage on Tuesday night.
“Yes, we are preparing to call out all of Biden’s lies and misinformation,” he told CBS News. “We have a ton of stuff ready.”
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