US Vice President Kamala Harris has spent several days intensively preparing for the upcoming presidential debate against Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump, the Washington Post wrote on Monday. Harris’ team has brought in a longtime Democratic operative to ‘play’ Trump during the sessions, the report said.
Harris and Trump are set for their first face-off on Tuesday night, an event held at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center and hosted by ABC News.
According to the Post, Harris has made few public appearances in recent days, instead spending most of them instead at an intensive “debate camp” in Pittsburgh’s Omni William Penn Hotel.
Her aides have reportedly created a mock set-up to mimic the layout of the debate studio. They also “cast a veteran Donald Trump stand-in to unleash harsh attacks and offensive comments; and put the vice president through hours of rehearsed questions,” the paper wrote.
That stand-in is Philippe Reines, a longtime Hillary Clinton aide. Reines had initially been enlisted to play Senator J.D. Vance when Harris was set to face him in the vice-presidential debate before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
“Now that Harris has ascended to the top of the ticket and will face Trump, Reines has stayed on to play the former president, reprising the role he played for Clinton during her 2016 debate preparations,” the paper wrote.
Trump, who on Tuesday will participate in his seventh general election debate since 2016, appears to have taken a different approach to debate prep. According to the Post, the former president spent much of the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, opting for “policy sessions” with aides.
The Republican nominee does not like the public perception that he is practicing at all, according to his advisers, the Post said. Those aides said Trump views rallies and interviews as the best preparation for the debate.
Trump’s debate with the 81-year-old Biden in June ended the latter’s campaign on July 21 amid widespread concern about his age and fitness for office. The stumbling debate performance against Trump and numerous gaffes led to Biden’s withdrawal from the race and his endorsement of Harris. She formally accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination at its national convention in Chicago last month.
The vice president has this week suffered a fall in the polls for the first time since becoming her party’s presidential candidate. A New York Times/Siena poll released on Sunday showed Trump edging out Harris 48% to 47% among likely voters nationally.