Trump is 'getting ready' for debate by ramping up campaign schedule
Former President Donald Trump is ramping up his campaign schedule ahead of the highly anticipated debate against Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, with campaign officials telling Fox News Digital that meeting with voters and taking questions from the press is his way of "getting ready."
Trump and Harris are expected to face off for the first time in a debate on Tuesday, Sept. 10 on ABC News. The debate will be held in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center.
The Harris campaign has agreed to the terms set forth in the initial agreement — the same terms used during the debate between Trump and President Biden in June.
HARRIS PREPS FOR DEBATE WITH GOOGLE LAWYER, CREATING 'CONFLICT OF INTEREST,' TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS
Biden’s debate performance against Trump led to his ouster, shaking up the election cycle and forcing a switch to the top of the Democrat ticket. Biden suspended his re-election campaign shortly after and endorsed Harris.
"We’re glad Kamala has finally agreed to the debate terms after trying to open up negotiations again," a Trump campaign official told Fox News Digital.
The rules are as follows: no notes, no sitting, no audience and no open microphones.
The Harris campaign had argued last month that microphones should be open, and not muted, throughout the debate but ultimately agreed to the initial terms.
Ahead of next Tuesday’s debate, Trump is ramping up his campaign schedule with multiple events per day.
Trump will be in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for a town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Trump will travel to New York City to give a speech at the New York Economic Club. Later Thursday, he will deliver remarks to the Republican Jewish Coalition.
On Friday, Trump is headed to North Carolina to meet with law enforcement groups, where he is expected to deliver remarks.
On Saturday, the former president will hold a rally in Wisconsin.
"He uses rallies and speeches as a big part of debate prep," a campaign official told Fox News Digital. "Meeting with voters and interacting with the press is a form of getting ready — you have seen him doing more media engagements in the last couple of weeks."
The official added: "In a lot of ways, that’s his preparation."
Fox News Digital has learned that campaign senior adviser Jason Miller is leading debate preparations, with Stephen Miller and the policy team also involved.
As for the Harris campaign, Fox News Digital reported last month that the vice president had recruited Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison attorney Karen Dunn to help with debate prep. Dunn helped prepare Harris for her 2020 vice presidential debate against then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Dunn is simultaneously working as Google’s lead defense attorney in the Biden-Harris administration’s lawsuit against the tech giant.
That lawsuit, United States v. Google LLC, is the Biden-Harris administration’s antitrust lawsuit targeting Google’s digital advertising practices. The trial is set to begin Sept. 9 — a day before the first presidential debate.
"Kamala Harris will never stand up to Big Tech because she’s being coached on what to say in the debates by Google’s top lawyer," Trump campaign senior adviser Tim Murtaugh told Fox News Digital. "Think about how outrageous it is — their administration is suing Google, but Harris is taking political advice from the defendant’s lawyer."
Murtaugh said, "Any first year law student knows that’s a conflict of interest."
Neither the Harris campaign nor Dunn responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.