Trump on preparing for the first debate with Harris: “I am not”

When Trump spoke to the press in Virginia on Monday, he said he was not actively preparing for the debate.

“I don’t, I really don’t. I don’t spend a lot of time on it. I think I’ve been preparing for a debate my whole life,” Trump said during an appearance at a Vietnamese restaurant.

“Basically, you have to be realistic. You can’t memorize 30 years of knowledge in a week,” the former president continued. “You have to prepare a little bit for the debate, but I’ve always done it more or less the same way. You have to know your subject. And I think I know it better than anyone else.”

A senior Trump communications adviser said the former president has “prepared his entire life and regularly interacts with the press, which is a form of preparation, something Comrade Kamala opposes,” in comments to Newsweek.

Trump and Harris will face off in an ABC News debate on September 10. Recent comments from Trump suggest that the duel between the two may still be uncertain.

“I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s (K?) ridiculous and biased interview with Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!) and their so-called panel of Trump haters, and I’m wondering why I should have the debate against Kamala Harris on this network,” he posted on Truth Social on Sunday evening.

“Stay tuned!!!” he added.

Meanwhile, Harris is reportedly fighting to overturn a debate rule enforced by President Joe Biden’s campaign in his first and only debate against Trump. Politico The Harris team reportedly wants to have live microphones for both candidates.

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A senior adviser to Harris’ campaign said on Monday: “To our knowledge, Trump’s advisers prefer the silent microphone because they do not believe their candidate can act as president alone for 90 minutes.”

The Washington Examiner has reached out to the Trump team for comment.