Donald Trump is only doing a ‘little’ preparation for the debate before the first clash with Joe Biden

BEFORE the first debate between US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, each campaign promises a stark contrast in politics, personality and preparation.

Trump has decided to skip the formal preparation, though he said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his former main rival from 2016, Chris Christie, are helping him.

“We had a little preparation for the debate before we came here,” Trump told reporters as Giuliani and Christie watched in the press conference room at the White House on Sunday.

And while Biden’s team believes the importance of the debate may be overstated, the Democratic candidate has been aggressively preparing to take on the president.

The Biden campaign has been conducting mock debate sessions with Bob Bauer, a senior adviser to Biden and a former White House general counsel, playing the role of Trump.

Trump and Biden are scheduled to meet on the debate stage for the first time today at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The 90-minute event, moderated by Fox News host Chris Wallace, is the first of three scheduled presidential debates. Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate, will debate in October.

For some, the debates represent the highlights of the final days of the 2020 campaign, a unique opportunity for millions of voters to compare the politics and personalities of candidates on primetime television.

Trump has been behind Biden in polls all year, a reality that gives the president an urgent incentive to change the direction of the contest on national television if he can.

Others, including those close to Biden’s campaign, don’t expect the debates to fundamentally change the race no matter what, given the pandemic and the economy. They also point to high-profile debates in past elections that were thought to be game-changing moments at the time, but ultimately had little lasting effect.

Those with knowledge of Biden’s preparations suggest that he will not take the fight to Trump if he can avoid it. But on Saturday, at least, he was in the attack when he discussed his strategy on MSNBC television.

“I am prepared to go out and make my case for why I think it has failed and why I believe the answers I have to continue will help the American people, the American economy and make us more secure internationally,” Biden said, arguing that Trump will not convince voters with broadside because “people know the president is a liar.”

He also compared Trump to Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, and said: “He’s kind of like Goebbels. You tell the lie long enough, you keep repeating, repeating, repeating, it becomes common knowledge. “

Workers set the stage for debate in Cleveland.

Source: Patrick Semansky / PA Images

While Biden has said that he will attempt to be something of a fact-checker on stage, the Democrat is advised to avoid direct confrontations and instead redirect the conversation to more familiar campaign themes of unity and issues that matter most to him. the voters: the economy, health and the pandemic.

Trump’s aides and allies said heading into the weekend that he had not been in any formal preparations. The president offered mixed messages Sunday with his confirmation that Giuliani and Christie were helping him, essentially combining to play the role of Biden. However, Trump played down the sessions.

“Sometimes you can go too far into that,” Trump said, noting that he defeated Hillary Clinton four years ago despite extensive preparation for the debate.

The president added that he takes far more questions from the White House press corps than Biden takes from reporters covering his campaign, arguing that those sessions with reporters are a way to prepare for the debate.

If you plan on staying up to watch the debate, TheJournal.ie will post it live throughout the night.