Vice President Kamala Harris will head to Pennsylvania Thursday to begin intensive preparations for Tuesday's debate against former President Donald Trump. Her prep team includes Washington, D.C-based attorney Karen Dunn, who helped Harris prepare for the vice presidential debate in 2020; longtime policy aide Rohini Kosoglu; and California political strategist Sean Clegg.
Harris' initial prep began weeks ago with practice sessions at Howard University, her alma mater. The plan going forward is to run through several full-length mock debates, in a "camp-style environment" with back-to-back 90 minutes sessions.
Sources told online news outlet NOTUS that Harris is a little rusty, and that "strategy sessions have careened sideways" when the vice president "focused too narrowly on minute details, effectively derailing the sessions."
Harris' debate record has been inconsistent. During a 2020 primary debate, she appeared poised and prepared, attacking Joe Biden over remarks he made about segregationists. Other times she's been less effective, such as when primary opponent, then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, eviscerated Harris over her record as a California prosecutor.
Former President Donald Trump is using that to his advantage, and is working with Gabbard on his own preparations. Gabbard said in a recent CNN interview that "Harris has a lot of experience. She is not to be underestimated."
A former Harris aide said he told Harris' prep team to get aggressive: "Somebody's got to sit there and really pepper her and get her to get annoyed and aggravated because that's probably what Trump's gonna do. And what you want her to do is work out that aggravation in prep and not do it when she's on stage."
The presidential debate is expected to air Tuesday, Sept. 10, on ABC.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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