Maggie Haberman Calls BS On Trump Debate Spin: He Is ‘Locked Down And Drilled Down’ Prepping For Biden Fight

CNN commentator and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman called BS on the idea that former President Donald Trump isn’t cramming for his showdown with President Joe Biden at the CNN debate.

President Joe Biden and Trump are set to debate Thursday night in the earliest general election presidential matchup ever, with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating. Commentary and predictions have dominated cable news, but some predictions and analyses are better than others.

As anchor Abby Phillip noted on Wednesday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight,  Haberman is “one of the best-sourced reporters and a longtime Trump watcher and biographer” whose insights are more informed than most.

While Trump and his campaign have tried to project the idea of a low-key, policy-focused debate prep, Haberman took on that notion, telling Phillip it’s not like that behind the scenes:

ABBY PHILLIP: Maggie, what do you know tonight about how Trump is preparing in these last 24 hours before this debate?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, I think that Trump is more locked down and drilled down on preparing for this debate than, you know, his advisers have suggested publicly, or than he has suggested publicly. He has been engaging in policy sessions with a wide range of advisers and senators and people he’s close to essentially to refresh his, his talking points about his administration and the accomplishments he wants to highlight and then also to figure out how to parry certain attacks.

You know, he does not do debate prep, as we understand it, the way that President Biden does. For instance, President Biden does a pretty traditional debate prep, somebody behind a podium, somebody playing Donald Trump. As far as we know, there is nobody doing that now in terms of Biden, but I do think that there is a focus on how to parry aggressive questions from various directions.

PHILLIP: Yes. And tonight, M.J. Lee is reporting that one of the things that the Biden camp is preparing for, and this probably should come as no surprise, is the likelihood that Trump will start to attack his family. The thing is, though, Maggie, Biden was prepared for such an attack in their last debate. So, do you think we can expect to hear anything new from Trump on this front?

HABERMAN: Look, I think it is certainly possible that Trump will talk about Hunter Biden’s criminal conviction, I think, especially if Trump’s criminal conviction comes up in a way where Trump then will say he was attacked. It’s impossible that Trump’s criminal conviction is not going to come up. Hunter Biden is not running for president, but Trump and his associates are very aware that it is a sore topic for President Biden. And I think they’re going to look for opportunities to try to disrupt his performance or get under his skin.

You are correct that in 2020 he was prepared for such an attack once before and that was specifically on Hunter Biden’s drug use. I think this would be a little bit different. I’m also not sure how President Biden will react to that attack, I think, if it comes. I think that’s a big question.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

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