With the debate a week away, both President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, have begun preparing for the first encounter between the two men since 2020.
CNN writes that the two candidates have taken different paths to getting ready to take on the other in what is expected to be a hotly contested conversation.
One is secluding himself at a mountainside retreat with a tight circle of advisers, poring over briefing binders, honing attack lines and bracing for personal smears. The other is workshopping responses and retorts with vice presidential hopefuls, sharpening policy lines while working to rein in his bombastic rhetoric.
In some ways, aides to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump describe similar goals heading into next Thursday’s presidential debate: painting their opponent as presiding over disorder and wholly unfit for office.
For two men who have been circling each other rhetorically for the past four years, the debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta amounts to a moment of high consequence. Both candidates are aware of the stakes, officials in both campaigns say, as they huddle with their teams to prepare attacks, form rebuttals and frame the choice of November’s election.
Both teams have spent the past weeks working to fine-tune their message on a wide array of issues, from the economy to foreign affairs to their rival’s fitness for office. And each has found themselves distracted in some way: Trump by the criminal trial that consumed his spring and Biden by a stretch of intensive overseas travel and a painful legal saga for his family.
While many expect there to be heated rhetoric and name calling, Donald Trump may surprise critics, writes Politico. According to a report, the former president recognizes why he lost his first debate in 2020 with Joe Biden, something that may very well have cost him the election.
“Former President Donald Trump has been holding a series of private meetings with senators, policy experts and other allies to prepare for his debate next week with President Joe Biden.
The meetings, described by several of Trump’s allies as informal “policy discussions,” began earlier this month, when the former president sat down with Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a top contender to become his running mate, at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida.
The meeting, which centered on the economy, has been followed by similar sit-downs featuring a rotating cast of senators, experts and Republican strategists, according to the allies granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
In a break from convention, Trump is not expected to hold a mock debate to prepare for what’s likely to be a blockbuster televised confrontation with Biden, according to one of the people. Instead, Trump’s advisers have been arranging the sessions focused on individual topics they expect will likely come up at the debate.”
Meanwhile, in a revelation that he does not have the same stamina as he used to have, Joe Biden has cleared his schedule from acting like the president for an entire week to make the case that he should be president for four more years.
If the leader of the free world needs 7 straight days of continuous uninterrupted rest to stand for one 90 minute debate that tells you all you need to know about his fitness for office. https://t.co/CGgcdZFuau
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 20, 2024
If elected and he completes his term, Biden would be the oldest person to ever serve as president. Despite hiding information from the public that could prove their point, the White House has pushed back against the idea that he isn’t cognitively aware enough to be president, claiming that multiple videos showing him confused are “cheap fakes” and that the public should not believe their lying eyes.
Polling has shown that the public isn’t buying it, though.
“His poll numbers show him neck-and-neck in key battleground states with Trump, according to 538’s polling average — and he must perform well to quell voter doubts.
Separately, in the lead-up to the debate, the Biden campaign has focused on slamming Trump over his 34 felony convictions in his New York hush-money trial. They’ve labeled this November as an election between a “convicted criminal” and a “president who’s fighting for your family” in a new ad that’s a part of a $50 million June paid media campaign,” according to ABC News.
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