President Joe Biden is reportedly rehearsing his responses to "personally insulting" and "completely false" attacks by former President Donald Trump ahead of their crucial first debate of this year's race for the White House.
Veteran Democratic campaign lawyer Bob Bauer played the role of Trump during debate-prep sessions with Biden in 2020 and he's believed by presidential aides to be doing so again as Biden gets ready for his Thursday face-off with Trump, Politico reported Saturday.
Bauer, who also serves as Biden's personal attorney, described the process in his new book, "The Unraveling: Reflections on Politics without Ethics and Democracy in Crisis," describing how his job was to attack Biden as he expected Trump would, Politico noted.
Bauer wouldn't confirm his role in Biden's preparations in an interview at the presidential Camp David retreat in Frederick County, Maryland, but he told Politico's "Deep Dive" podcast about his past efforts portraying Trump, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Al Gore during mock debates.
"You cannot be afraid of laying down on the table something that your candidate you're preparing this for won't like," he said, according to an edited transcript. "That could be something that's personally insulting. That's something that can be completely false about policy positions they've taken."
During a Saturday night campaign rally in Philadelphia, Trump told supporters that Biden would get "a shot in the ass" so he'll be "jacked up" for their debate.
Trump has also said that he might "lose the debate on purpose" so Democrats won't replace Biden with a potentially stronger candidate.
Bauer said he had to be careful to ensure that he stuck to the arguments likely to take place while also approximating how he expected the debate opponent would behave.
"That doesn't mean high theater," he said. "This is not a 'Saturday Night Live' impression. You don't want to detract from the serious business of prepping the candidate."
Thursday's CNN-sponsored debate is scheduled to take place in a studio without an audience, which Bauer called a "very strong point in its favor."
Bauer noted that the famed 1960 debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon employed the same format and wasn't marred by what he called the "politics of the audience."
"This is a serious format," he said. "It's a format in which the candidates can be heard, but they're the only ones who are heard and they're performing for the country, not performing for a select audience, some of whom were fortunate enough to receive tickets to the event."
