Trump fears strong Biden debate  performance — and is already prepping response

The first 2024 presidential debate between Democratic incumbent Joe Biden and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump is scheduled for Thursday, June 27 in Atlanta, where it will be moderated by CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

Biden's campaign is hoping that the debate will give him a boost and show voters the dramatic contrasts between the two candidates. Meanwhile, Trump, according to The Hill's Brett Samuels, fears that Biden could perform well — and is preparing a response in case he does.

A GOP strategist, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Hill, "Republicans would be wise to play down expectations. Make the point that Biden is a good debater."

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But Trump, Samuels notes, has "fluctuated between claims that Biden is feeble and incompetent and preemptively trying to create a narrative that if Biden does well, it's because he had the help of some unnamed, mysterious substance."

There is no evidence whatsoever that Biden is using any type of "substance" to make him appear energetic, but that isn't stopping Trump supporters from making that claim.

Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller, in a statement, claimed that Trump "does not need to be programmed by staff or shot up with chemicals like Joe Biden does." And Fox News' Sean Hannity has commented that "maybe" Biden will use "Red Bull and caffeine pills" for the debate.

"The claims echo a similar strategy Trump and others used to downplay Biden's well-received State of the Union speech earlier in the year," Samuels notes. "They also come as some Republicans worry Biden will defy the caricature that Trump and right-wing media have painted of him as a feeble, confused old man."

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Read Brett Samuels' full article for The Hill at this link.