Maggie Haberman Says She Expects Trump ‘Will Be Very Mean Toward Biden’ At Debate

CNN commentator and New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said former President Donald Trump may not interrupt President Joe Biden but he “will be very mean toward Biden” at the debate.

President Biden and Trump are busy preparing for the CNN debate on Thursday, the earliest general election presidential matchup ever.

Haberman was a guest on Monday night’s edition of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, during which she provided insight and analysis on the debate based on her unrivaled expertise and sourcing on Trump.

Cooper asked Haberman to decipher Trump’s shifting ideas about the debate:

COOPER: I mean, obviously, he has no shame and he makes stuff up, but it’s very inconsistent. I mean, it’s – one moment it’s – he’s a worthy debater and then it’s he’s going to be doing massive amounts of cocaine.

MAGGIE HABERMAN: Yes. It’s a microcosm of Donald Trump and his team that we have seen over nine years now, which is his team wants him to do one thing, he does something else and he sometimes can stick to the script. But then he goes off of it, which is why predictions of how he is going to actually be in this debate are probably not worth very much. We know that he has been preparing for this debate in the way he does with sort of policy sessions as opposed to classic, you know, behind the podium matches.

But whether he is going to absorb what he’s learning there and whether he is going to come in, you know, interrupting President Biden less than he did in 2020 in their first debate is an open question because he does what he wants to do.

COOPER: I want – I just want to play something else he said at the rally over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: How should I handle him? Should I be tough and nasty or should I be – she say, no – should I be tough and nasty and just say you’re the worst president in history or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I mean, do you think does he sort of change in the moment just riffing how he feels in the moment or is it something he kind of thinks of as he’s going to bed that night and just thinks in his head, doesn’t tell anybody?

HABERMAN: I think sometimes he plays around with these things on his own. I think sometimes, as you see, he poll tests it because he thinks it’s going to please whatever crowd he’s in front of. Whatever’s on his mind is often what he does with these crowds and it could be anything. It could be, you know, he’s been poll testing everyone about VP at various fundraisers and this is along the same lines.

I was thinking, though, as he was saying that, I think he will be both. I think he will likely interrupt less because I think that’s the lesson – main lesson he took from the last debate or their first debate in 2020. And I think he will be very mean toward Biden. I will be very surprised if he is anything other than that.

Watch above via Anderson Cooper 360.