- President Donald Trump believes a series of debates against Joe Biden will provide an opportunity to rekindle his flawed campaign, Axios reported on Sunday.
- The seriousness conflicts with Trump’s claims that Biden is gaffe gene and in cognitive decline.
- The debates are scheduled for September 29, and October 15 and 22.
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President Donald Trump’s advisers are not warning to take victory over Joe Biden as a precursor in emerging presidential debates, Axios reported Sunday.
According to the report, the Trump campaign sees the three presidential debates increasingly as one of the last clear chances the president will have the fortune of his campaign to date.
Axios said two advisers involved with Trump prepping for the prize question – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and campus strategist Jason Miller – rebuffed against all signs of self-doubt.
The characterization often contradicts claims of Trump and his campaign that Biden’s cognitive capacities disappear with age.
Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Democratic presidential inauguration at Tyler Perry Studios on November 20, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
The two believe Biden is a “decent, knowledgeable and relatively disciplined debater,” Axios said.
In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Miller expressed expectations about Biden, calling him the favorite to win – while also saying that Biden tried to skip two of the debates.
“Joe Biden is actually a very good debater. He does not have as many gaffs as he does in his daily interviews,” Miller told the Post.
One source told Axios that the president has pushed the importance of the debates to his officials at home, as he continues to push Biden in the run-up to the election amid the fallout from the clashing U.S. response to the coronavirus.
“He [Trump] has verbalized how important this will be, “said one source. He said, ‘We have to win. The press will never give me the credit for it, but the people will. ‘”
The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 29 at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio.
The second is due on October 15 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Florida, and the third on October 22 at Belmont University, Tennessee.
The commission is expected to name its debate moderators in early September, according to reports. Last week, it rejected the Trump campaign’s request for another debate in September.
The Trump campaign had argued that the extra debate was necessary to give people a chance to see the president in a head-to-head contest against Biden before early voting begins in some states.
