Although former President Donald Trump’s advisors have stated that he doesn’t require any debate preparation, sources tell ABC News that the former president has been preparing more than he is admitting.
According to insiders, Trump meets informally with a select group of advisors, which includes former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz. In 2019, Gabbard went viral for torching Kamala Harris in the Democratic primary presidential debate.
“Gaetz has been firing questions at Trump around some of the more challenging issues, such as his legal troubles, including his federal indictments on election interference and retaining classified documents, criminal conviction in the New York hush-money case, and stance on abortion, according to the sources,” ABC News reported.
“Two people familiar with Trump’s preparation also told ABC News that Trump has been briefed on Harris’ past debates, including the headline-making moment when she hit back at former Vice President Mike Pence with the words, ‘Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.’ That exchange went viral then, and Trump has privately told his allies he won’t let that happen to him,” the outlet added.
As ABC News reported, Harris has been using conventional debate techniques in Pittsburgh.
Some Democrats are already worried for Harris ahead of Tuesday’s debate.
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman stated that the residential debate in Philadelphia will be “close,” acknowledging that both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are capable of competing in a discussion.
During an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Fetterman was asked what Harris needed to do in the debate to win over important Pennsylvania voters in the battleground state.
“I also want to just say that it’s going to be a straight-up debate. She’s going to do great, of course, but Donald Trump will be good, too,” Fetterman said.
“I mean, we can all remember he wrecked all of the Republicans. He’s a good debater. But at the end of the day, I don’t believe this debate’s going to be definitive because it’s going to come down to this choice, and it’s going to be close,” Fetterman continued.
Fetterman said Pennsylvania “is always going to be close” in terms of votes during the presidential election, and thinks that the focus of voters will be on “order” versus “chaos.”
“I think a majority of Pennsylvanians are going to decide, ‘Hey, I want four years of order and fairness and unity and a different way forward.’ And I don’t think they want the kinds of dark days and chaos that Donald Trump provided for our nation,” the senator said.
WATCH:
The Trump-Harris debate on Tuesday will model the one that took place in June between Trump and President Joe Biden, with one candidate’s microphone being live while they respond to questions and the other’s being muted until it is their turn to speak.
Additionally, according to ABC News, Trump and Harris will each have two minutes to respond to questions.
There will then be a rebuttal period of two minutes, and there will be “an additional minute for a follow-up, clarification, or response.”
No contender will be permitted to enter the stage with pre-written notes, and each competitor’s closing remarks will be limited to 120 seconds.
Neither side will be allowed to make an opening statement.
