US Elections 2024:The US presidential race is inching closer to a critical month as rival candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris prepare for their first presidential debate on September 10. With so much at stake after President Joe Biden’s shaky performance in June all but forced him out of the race, planning for the first Trump-Harris showdown has already begun.
The former president has tapped former Democratic congresswoman and Indian-American leader Tulsi Gabbard to help him sharpen his attacks at a recent practice session at his private Mar-a-go estate, two people familiar with Trump’s schedule told the New York Times. This comes at a time when Trump’s campaign has hit some roadblocks as officials are desperate to focus on policy issues like immigration and inflation rather than his personal comments about Harris.
Separately, Harris held her first formal debate training session earlier this week at Howard University, the historically black college in Washington she attended nearly four decades ago, and is working closely with an experienced Trump surrogate, according to CNN. After days of back-and-forth, the two presidential candidates finally agreed to a debate on ABC News on Sept. 10.
Tulsi Gabbard’s impact on the debates
Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party after her 2020 presidential campaign and has become a celebrity among Trump’s base, has been a longtime friend of Trump and was briefly considered as his running mate. Her involvement in Trump’s preparation stems from her experience debating with Harris during the 2019 Democratic presidential primary, where she managed to severely flummox the incumbent vice president in a memorable encounter.
Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the former president had “proven himself to be one of the greatest debaters in political history, as evidenced by his knockout of Joe Biden. He doesn’t need traditional debate preparation, but he will continue to meet with respected political advisers and effective communicators like Tulsi Gabbard, who successfully dominated Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2020.”
While Biden’s exit and Kamala Harris’s entrance galvanized Democrats and saw a sharp surge in enthusiasm for the 59-year-old, Trump’s personal comments about her racial identity and policies sparked a backlash that may have required Gabbard’s help in preparing for their long-awaited showdown.
Gabbard vs Harris in 2020
Both Gabbard and Harris launched unsuccessful presidential bids in 2020. Gabbard’s involvement in Trump’s bid is expected to be beneficial to the Republican, given that she has served as a former member of the House of Representatives and has dealt a major blow to Harris for her role as a prosecutor that ultimately derailed the latter’s presidential campaign.
Gabbard accused Harris of “putting over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana-related violations and then laughing about it when asked if she ever smoked marijuana.” She also accused the vice president of obstructing evidence that could have allowed an innocent man to walk off death row, and of only doing so when a court “forced her to.”
Harris responded that she was “proud that I made the decision to not just give fancy speeches, or be in a legislative body and give floor speeches, but to actually do the work.” Aides later admitted that Gabbard’s comments helped lock Harris into a spiral from which her campaign never recovered.
Trump seeks help from allies
Though Trump likes to say he doesn’t need help preparing for debates, advisers say he has spent far more time preparing for on-stage encounters this year than he did in 2016 or 2020. His first debate against Biden in 2020 was a bit of a shock for him, as he seemed authoritarian and unable to counter Biden’s comments.
As he prepared to face Biden, Trump invited several of the Republicans he was considering as running mates to discuss issues and potential talking points. However, he has recently rejected advice given to him by allies such as Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, saying he would like to do things “my way.”
Trump has also called for additional debates and has agreed to two more with Fox News and NBC. His running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, and Harris’ vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, agreed Thursday to hold an Oct. 1 debate hosted by CBS News.
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