Inside Trump’s secret debate prep with Chris Christie playing Joe Biden ‘because he was better than Hillary in 2016’
PRESIDENT Trump is secretly meeting with three of his closest aides to practice debating Joe Biden, it has been revealed.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who role-played Hillary Clinton in Trump's 2016 debate prep sessions, is tipped to play the Democratic candidate again.
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Trump has told associates that Christie "was better than Hillary" and "harder to debate than Hillary" in 2016.
Christie will be joined by Jared Kushner, campaign manager Bill Stepien, and senior adviser Jason Miller who have all been handpicked for the prep sessions, reports.
The first meeting is believed to have been two weekends ago in the conference room of Trump's Bedminster golf club, where they allegedly discussed the three scheduled debates with Joe Biden.
According to two sources familiar with the results of the meeting, the team will meet at least every 10 days.
The group will be kept small - six people maximum to avoid leaks, but may bring on experts to advise on specific points.
Trump's campaign sees the upcoming debates this fall as a key part in their strategy as polling indicates that the president is currently trailing Biden by a large margin.
They believe that it is the only time that Biden will be vulnerable as they don't think he will submit to any hard interviews in the run-up to the election.
conducted by CBS News and YouGov released on Sunday, is leading Trump by six percentage points among likely voters in both states.
The major point of contention for voters has been around Trump's handling of coronavirus, which recently saw the US pass five million cases, with a million new cases declared in just over two weeks.
CBS News reported that roughly two-thirds of those polled don’t like “how the president handles himself personally.”
This week has seen a lot of back and forth between the two over the issues of social equality, religion and the economy.
Biden slammed Trump on Friday, tweeting: “Here’s the truth.
“Donald Trump turned his back on the middle class long before COVID-19. He cut taxes for the super-wealthy, drove U.S. manufacturing into a recession, and stacked the deck against hardworking Americans. It's time we pick a different path.”
However, Trump's team believes he is closing the gap since he re-started his coronavirus briefings.
Trumps' new campaign manager Bill Stepien told Bloomberg the almost daily coronavirus briefings have helped the president catch up to Biden.
“His instincts are strong and there’s no one better at the podium than him. That is a net positive every day of the week, polling shows it,” Stepien said.
A FOURTH DEBATE
The Trump team has recently been pushing for an early fourth showdown in September but holds no leverage over the fiercely independent Commission on Presidential Debates.
The fourth debate, which Trump's team is hoping will sway early voters, won't be considered unless Biden's team also pushes for it, which it says it won't.
A source told Axios: "I don't think he [Trump] sees the debates as the last inflection points, but potentially the most important.
"I think he always thinks he can create an inflection point, but he has verbalised how important these are going to be.
"He's said, 'We gotta win. The press will never give me the credit for it, but the people will.'"
TEAM TRUMP IS WORRIED
Trump and Biden are scheduled to debate on September 29 in Ohio, followed by an October 15 debate in Florida, and October 22 in Tennessee.
In spite of Trump's previous assertion that Biden "can't put two sentences together" and that "he'll be on the ground crying for mommy", and that his oponent is "mentally shot".
However Trump's key advisers, including Miller and Christie, are worried.
Biden, who has 47 years of debate experience, is seen as a formidable threat as a relatively disciplined opponent.
He has however made a few gaffes recently, including one where he .
Miller told the : "Joe Biden is actually a very good debater.
"He doesn't have as many gaffes as he does in his everyday interviews."
Miller also added that he is sceptical of Biden's strategy.
“I would be highly surprised if Joe Biden actually went through with all three debates.
“I think their strategy will be to show up to one, show that he is able to function and then pull the plug on any additional debates,” he said.
The moderator is also a major point of contention as the chair is unlikely to be publically announced before the first week of September.
Since 1988, the commission has always sought to choose neutral and fair moderators as not to provoke a major reaction from either side.
Never, in 30 years, has a campaign vetoed a selection, though they've complained afterward about "unfair" moderators.
A commission source said."If the campaigns agree they want another debate, we will take a look at that and see if that will work.
"It would be nice if people understood how complicated this is."
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There has also been the problem of coronavirus affecting this year's debates.
Whilst normally one of the biggest TV events of the year, drawing in a crowd of live spectators, this years audiences will only be "two-digit sized," the source said.
Attendees will be socially distanced and wear masks.
The Cleveland Clinic will supervise all of the debates, and everyone will be tested for the coronavirus before entering the room.