Vice President Kamala Harris will have to dodge and weave on the debate stage as though she’s in a match with boxing greats Muhammad Ali or Floyd Mayweather Jr., Trump campaign officials said Monday.
The two candidates will face off Tuesday night in Philadelphia in what could be their only presidential debate, and the rules are so strict that the candidates’ hands will be inspected for crib notes.
Mr. Trump’s campaign team said the GOP nominee has prepared not by hunkering down in a hotel with stacks of policy material, but by honing his message on the campaign trail and in multiple interviews.
The debate will be moderated by ABC News and starts at 9 p.m.
Ms. Harris, who hunkered down for “debate camp” last week in a Pittsburgh hotel, is bound to be caught flat-footed by Mr. Trump’s non-traditional debate style, Trump campaign officials said.
“You can’t prepare for President Trump. There’s just no way to do it,” Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller said. “Imagine a boxer trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather or Muhammad Ali. You just don’t know what angle they’re going to come at you with. You don’t know what style of contrast that they’re going to deliver.”
Mr. Trump, he said, will deliver “an amazing mix of humor and charm, as well as very hard-hitting facts of why we’re doing this” that will be difficult for Ms. Harris to compete with on the stage at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center.
Mr. Miller said the strict rules in place for the debate forbid notes of any kind and ABC News staff “will be checking during intermissions” to ensure neither candidate is sneaking notes onto their podiums.
“We’ll also be checking to see if candidates have notes written on their hands to try to get around the rule,” he said.
The former president, rather than studying ahead of the event, has been campaigning, talking to voters and appearing in media interviews.
“It’s about getting out there and showing people that you’re authentic, that you’re genuine, and that you’re sincere. And that’s exactly what President Trump has been doing, and that’s what we’re going to see from President Trump tomorrow,” Mr. Miller said.
Mr. Trump’s successful debate with President Biden in June helped push Mr. Biden, 81, out of the race. But the former president also benefited from Mr. Biden’s disastrous performance linked to his cognitive decline. (Mr. Biden said he was ill and had a “bad night.”)
The former president faces a much tougher challenger in Ms. Harris, who is 20 years younger than Mr. Trump and, during her brief time running for president in 2019, delivered an aggressive debate performance that could signal how hard she attacks him.
A former prosecutor, Ms. Harris is likely to challenge Mr. Trump on abortion access, a top voter concern, and repeat claims that Mr. Trump’s tax cuts benefited the rich. She will almost certainly raise Mr. Trump’s felony conviction, civil sexual abuse judgment and looming criminal cases. She’s also likely to repeat her claim that Mr. Trump will implement a conservative agenda, Project 2025, that the former president has disavowed several times.
Ms. Harris is leading Mr. Trump slightly among likely voters nationally, but in particular, has edged up her support among women voters and Black voters.
Mr. Trump’s surrogates said the former president will focus on a “record of success” during his term in the White House and putting forward policies women are concerned about, such as high crime and crime related to illegal immigration, as well as economic issues.
“These are issues that people are concerned about, that women are concerned about, that families are concerned about, that has to do with just basic safety and security,” said former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who was once a Democrat but is now backing Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump also will hit Ms. Harris on the economy and reducing the cost of living, the cost of housing and child care.
“President Trump is going into this debate very focused on his plan to fix what Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have broken in this country,” Ms. Gabbard said.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican who is informally working to prepare Mr. Trump for the debate, said the former president will ensure Ms. Harris does not separate herself from “dangerously liberal” policies as a former California prosecutor. Nor will she be able to distance herself from Mr. Biden’s unpopular presidency or the agenda the two have carried out over the past four years that have hurt the economy and flooded the nation with illegal immigrants, he said.
“That is the record that we are going to ensure that Kamala Harris doesn’t escape with President Trump’s performance in the debate,” Mr. Gaetz said.
Mr. Trump has declared the debate will be “rigged” in favor of Ms. Harris based on the network’s coverage of him, but his campaign prevailed on how the debate rules will be implemented.
Mr. Trump insisted the same rules remain in place that were established for the Atlanta debate with Mr. Biden. There will be no audience, both candidates will stand for the debate, microphones will be muted between questions and no notes will be permitted.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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