The first of what is supposed to be two presidential debates is days away as Biden and Trump prepare — in their own styles. Biden’s prep with top advisers is akin to moot court. Trump’s prep is famously looser because he believes his performances benefit from improvisation, drama and the unexpected. He held one recent practice session at the Republican National Committee headquarters.
The incumbent’s team has been transparent about what it wants CNN moderators in Atlanta to focus on: Abortion, risks to democracy and elements of Trump’s proposed tax cuts and other kitchen-table economic notions, The New York Times reports.
The former president, for his part, thinks the incumbent, responsible for governing, has the heavier lift with debate viewers and is easier to attack.
Biden’s team believes the Atlanta debate, scheduled early in the cycle and without an audience June 27, could help the president focus the public’s attention on Trump at a time when the contest is in a dead heat and the president’s job approval numbers are low. The Biden campaign is up with a new ad pounding Trump for his criminal convictions — a play for swing voters.
Trump since 2020 has declared Biden too mentally feeble to be president, a strategy that lowered public expectations for the incumbent at key moments, such as debates in their last faceoff and during State of the Union addresses. With a debate audience of potentially tens of millions of viewers, Biden believes that underpromising and overdelivering is the way to go. His challenger has been helpful on that score.
