'Our guy isn't always up for that': Aides worry debate will take Trump out of comfort zone
Donald Trump's team knows the stakes are staggeringly high for Tuesday night's debate against Kamala Harris — and they're worried the format might not suit his strengths.
The former president's team believes he can present himself at the debate as a change candidate and try to saddle Harris with President Joe Biden's record, according to team insiders. And his allies say the stakes are higher for the vice president because voters don't know her as well, reported The Bulwark.
“Trump has been doing interviews," said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who has prepared Trump for the last two debates. "He’s been taking tough questions consistently for years, and she’s been wrapped in bubblewrap since securing the nomination, and so I think she’s got a far higher bar that she has to clear because a lot of people haven’t really seen her pressed with straightforward questions about her record and about her radically liberal policy choices."
However, not all Trump allies share the same confidence and worry that he's underestimating Harris, and some of them are concerned the 78-year-old president isn't as sharp or coherent as voters recall and might appear too old alongside the 59-year-old vice president.
“This could take some policy chops," said one former campaign adviser, "and our guy is not always up for that."
Although his campaign won't say he's been engaging in traditional "debate prep," insiders insist Trump will be ready for anything Harris or the moderators throw his way – and an insider revealed the disagreement over having muted microphones was just a provocation tactic.
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“She wanted it, so we didn’t want it," that insider said. "If she didn’t want it, we would’ve wanted it.”
Trump has been practicing some give-and-take moments that might occur during the debate and discussing campaign issues with senior adviser Jason Miller, Gaetz and former Democrat and ex-congresswoman for Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard, who debated Harris in 2019 during the Democratic presidential primary.
“He sits around with smart people, listens, talks, adds, raises points,” said a Trump campaign adviser familiar with the debate discussions. “So he’ll be asked something like, ‘She might say she’s a prosecutor and you’re a criminal. How do you react to that?’”
However, the insider wouldn't reveal Trump's answer.
Director Steve Pink and former US congressman Adam Kinzinger attend the premiere of 'The Last Republican' at the Toronto International Film Festival © Brian de Rivera Simon / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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