Trump blows off prepping for 'the most important debate' to host a campaign rally

In just five days, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off in their first debate of the 2024 cycle. While Biden has been huddling with advisors to prepare for the debate, the former president appears to be procrastinating.

The Daily Beast reported Saturday that Trump is holding a rally tonight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while Biden is at the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland to work on debate prep. The rally, which will be at Temple University in the northern part of the city, has already attracted the attention of anti-Trump protesters. The protesters will be both holding court outside the rally and will be displaying a mobile billboard that reads: "Donald Trump is coming to North Philly, but he can’t fool us," and calling him a "disaster for Black Americans."

Trump is reportedly aiming to drive a wedge into the bloc of Black voters in Pennsylvania's largest city and eat into a traditional base of the Democratic Party in order to win the Keystone State. Trump campaign spokesperson Janiyah Thomas told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the former president "is making roads with historically Democrat[sic] voters," including "Black Americans and Hispanics."

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"[Trump] is unafraid to bring his message to deep-blue areas as evidenced by this trip to Philadelphia and recent visits to Detroit, Harlem, and the Bronx," Thomas said.

Kellan White, who is a senior adviser to the Biden-Harris campaign in Pennsylvania, responded to Thomas' remarks by telling the Beast: "Philadelphians haven’t forgotten how Trump failed us as president—presiding over record-high Black unemployment, soaring health-care costs, and hand-outs to his billionaire friends at the expense of working families."

"[Philadelphians] have shut down Trump’s racist MAGA charade at every turn," he said. "We know he’s a threat to our families, to our jobs, and to our freedoms—and voters have slammed the door on his extreme agenda in every election since 2018. And they’re ready to do it again."

But with just days to go before his first debate in four years, Trump risks appearing rusty — particularly with Biden taking his own debate prep seriously. Last week, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) hinted that he was playing the role of Trump in Biden's debate simulations by peppering him with the same kind of below-the-belt insults Trump is expected to throw the president's way on Thursday night.

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The stakes are high for next week's debate on CNN, which will include terms Biden's team successfully negotiated. The debate will feature no live audience, candidates will have two minutes to answer a question and one minute to rebut their opponent, and each candidate's microphone can be cut if they speak over time or attempt to interject.

Jim Messina, who managed former President Barack Obama's successful reelection campaign in 2012, suggested to the Associated Press that the result of the debate could dictate the course of the rest of the 2024 cycle.

"You can argue this will be the most important debate, at least in my lifetime," Messina said.

Click here to read the Beast's report in full (subscription required).

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