How Trump, Biden are preparing for first presidential debate

[left-of-center2012]

Ahead of the first debate-stage matchup between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, each campaign is promising a stark contrast in policy, personality and preparation. Trump has decided to skip any formal preparation. And while Biden’s team believes the significance of the debate may be exaggerated, the Democratic nominee has been aggressively preparing to take on the president.

Biden’s campaign has been holding mock debate sessions featuring Bob Bauer, a senior Biden adviser and former White House general counsel, playing the role of Trump ... “I’m sure the president will throw everything he can at (Biden). My guess is that they’re preparing for that -- bombarding him with insults and weird digressions,” said Jay Carney, a former aide to Biden and President Barack Obama.

Trump has not been doing any formal preparation, according to aides and allies who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. No set has been constructed and aides refused to say whether anyone is playing Biden. Trump, instead, has maintained that the best preparation is doing his day job — particularly his frequent and often contentious interactions with reporters. White House aides also scheduled an ABC town hall earlier this month to expose Trump to real voter questions for the first time in months in preparation for the second debate.
(After which Trump aides complained the questions were too hard)

Privately some aides and allies are worried that Trump’s lack of formal preparation will lead him to fall into the same hubris trap as other incumbents in their first general election debate. Obama, for example, famously struggled in his first matchup against Mitt Romney in 2012.

Trump offered a preview of his approach on Sunday when he raised accusations with no evidence that Biden’s previous debate performances were influenced by medication. In a tweet, Trump said he would demand that Biden take a drug test and that he would as well. Trump’s message seemed to be an attempt at both tripping up Biden and preemptively offering an explanation to his supporters if the Democratic nominee has a strong performance.

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-virus-outbreak-joe-biden-campaigns-michael-pence-ee021beed099a2cf8cbd1e28161740a1

[tanyev]

1. Cohen mentioned several times in his book that Trump never ever practiced

for anything. Partly because he’s lazy, but mostly because he’s supremely confident in his ability to bullshit his way through everything.

[GoCubsGo]

3. He probably also believes all the bullshit he has been spewing about Biden.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he actually thinks he's going up against "sleepy" and "declining" opponent, who will be easy to beat, so he doesn't need to prepare for it.

[keithbvadu2]

2. Will he stalk Biden like he did Hillary?

Will he have the guts to show up?