President Joe Biden and his team of advisers were at Camp David over the weekend for intense debate preparations — including preparing for different versions of Donald Trump who could appear in the presidential debate from CNN on Thursday night (27).
Biden aides are preparing for what they believe is the very real possibility that a “very disciplined” Trump could take the debate stage this week, a senior adviser involved in the preparations said. to CNNin what would mark a stark contrast to the unhinged former president who created chaos during the first Biden-Trump debate four years ago.
In that confrontation in September 2020, Trump memorably unleashed a torrent of insults, interruptions and long-winded and incoherent responses that made it, at times, almost impossible for the moderator to keep the debate under control.
But as this Biden adviser said, the president’s team believes Trump’s campaign was much more disciplined this time around than in 2020 or 2016, largely because of the direction of political operatives like Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, and that this could result in Trump being relatively restrained on Thursday.
Still, Biden campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu said on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” that, ultimately, “it really doesn’t matter how Donald Trump shows up — if he comes in unbalanced, as he does for the most part. of time, or if you just sit there quietly.”
“People will know that he is a convicted felon who has been impeached twice, who has defamed and sexually abused people, and who has gone bankrupt six times,” Landrieu said. “They will always know that.”
A CNN recently published that Biden’s personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, will likely reprise his Trump role in mock debate sessions at Camp David this week. Bauer, who has repeatedly declined to comment on the strategy behind preparing for this year’s debate, said on CNN last week that playing the role of Trump was about finding a balance between “trying to approximate the experience” of facing the former president, but also not letting the “theatricality” become a distraction.
Aides who were involved in preparing the debate four years ago credit Bauer with having a knack for capturing what the team at the time predicted would be an unrelenting Trump on the debate stage.
“He was excellent at imitating Trump’s relentlessness,” recalled former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield.
And there is one detail in Thursday night’s debate that makes Biden’s team happy: the two campaigns agreed that a candidate’s microphone would be muted whenever it was not their turn to speak. Biden’s senior adviser said voters made clear after the first chaotic debate between Biden and Trump in 2020 that “their interests were not served.” There were simply too many interruptions and shouting, the counselor said, and ultimately the chaos meant that voters were unable to clearly hear both candidates.
Clearly showing this contrast between Biden and Trump on everything from policy issues to the broader vision of the country is a top priority for the Biden campaign this week. At the end of the night, the president’s campaign wants the public to have seen a divisive, chaotic Trump — and alongside him, a firmer, wiser Biden.
Biden’s team hopes the muted microphones can help demonstrate that.
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