Gabbard’s performance in a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate played a role in her decision to assist Trump with his debate preparation.
The New York Times reported, citing two individuals knowledgeable of Trump’s agenda, that the former president is preparing for his debate with US Vice President Kamala Harris and has enlisted the assistance of former Democratic congressman Tulsi Gabbard to help hone his assaults.
She attended Trump’s warm-up at his estate, Mar-a-Lago, a private club. On September 10, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will square off in the ABC News debate.
Gabbard has always been close to Trump and was long-rumored to be his running mate. She quit the Democratic Party during her 2020 presidential campaign and has since rebuilt herself as a superstar within Trump’s fan base.
Part of Garbbard’s motivation for helping Trump prepare for the debate stemmed from her own performance in the 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate, where she utterly destroyed Harris in a spectacular onstage exchange.
In an email, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt attested to Gabbard’s participation, according to the New York Times.
“As evidenced by his knockout blow to Joe Biden, the former president has proven to be one of the best debaters in political history,” according to Leavitt. While he doesn’t require conventional debate preparation, he will nevertheless consult with reputable policy advisors and skilled communicators like Tulsi Gabbard, who trounced Kamala Harris in a 2020 debate.”
Trump claims he “doesn’t need to” prepare for debates, but according to aides who have worked with him, the former president has spent more time preparing for debates this year than he did in either 2016 or 2020.
He continues to forgo conventional debate preparation. During his practices before their June 27 CNN debate, Mr. Biden was not portrayed by anyone.
Before Trump and Biden’s June CNN debate, the two spoke about possible subjects and lines of questioning on casual aircraft flights or block periods spent together. Aides have sat in chairs across from him during more formal meetings at Mar-a-Lago, acting as moderators.
An individual present said that Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida raised particularly aggressive questions. Other legislators have also conferred with Trump on policy matters, notably Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who will be his running mate in the end.
After giving a sluggish and rambling performance in his June debate with Trump, Biden finally withdrew from the contest. It’s anticipated that Trump’s staff would approach the preparations for his September 10 debate with Harris in a same manner, according to the NYT.
Notably, Gabbard offers to Trump’s position a few crucial attributes: In addition to being a woman at a time when Trump is facing a female opponent in the general election for the second time, she was previously a member of the House, which gives her experience in policy. Perhaps most significantly for Trump, though, is that she has debated with Harris and launched a scathing attack on her prosecutorial record, according to the New York Times.
But Gabbard’s criticism of Harris at the July 2019 debate originated on the left.
During her tenure as a district attorney in San Francisco, she said that Harris “put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana.”
In addition, she charged Harris with obstructing evidence that might have allowed an innocent man to be released from death row, only doing so when a judge “forced her to.”
In response, Harris stated that she was “proud of deciding to not just give fancy speeches, or be in a legislative body and give speeches on the floor, but doing the work.”
Harris made fun of Gabbard’s poor polling position after the debate. In the end, Gabbard withdrew from the race in March 2020, following Harris’ withdrawal in December 2019. (ANI)
