Titanic: What to See as President Trump and VP Harris Battle Tonight

Preparing for today's presidential debate, Trump and Harris are taking sharp turns, presenting a contrasted platform that represents not just their divergent views of the nation, but also, their differing approaches to critical events as politicians.

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In order to concentrate on “perfecting” her two-minute responses in accordance with the debate’s guidelines, the vice president is sequestered at a grand hotel located in Pittsburgh’s downtown. Harris selected a location that gives her the chance to try and mingle with swing-state voters, and she has been working with a number of political advisers since last Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Republican candidate, Trump, openly questions the need for lengthy preparation. Trump has expressed that he feels he is already well prepared, and seemingly not as worried about preparation in comparison to Harris. On Monday, the former president scheduled activities connected to his campaign throughout the day.

“You can go in with all the strategy you want but you have to sort of feel it out as the debate’s taking place,” Trump said during a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face,” he added, quoting boxing legend Mike Tyson.

Meanwhile, Harris emphasized that she is ready for Trump to hurl insults and “misrepresent” the facts, in her own words.

“He plays from this really old and tired playbook, where there’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go. And we should be prepared for that. We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth, and we should be prepared for the fact that he is probably going to speak a lot of untruth. Ultimately, you know, what I intend to point out is what so many people know, certainly as I’m traveling the country in this campaign — he tends to fight for himself, not for the American people. And I think that’s going to come out during the debate. But, you know, I expect that he’s going to lie, and he has a playbook that he has used in the past, whether it be his attacks on President Obama or Hillary Clinton. So we should expect that some of that might come out,” Harris said during an interview with The Rickey Smiley Show.

(L) Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gives a thumbs up as she walks to board Air Force Two upon departure from Pittsburgh International Airport on September 9, 2024. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) / (Center) Final preparations are made in the spin room prior to the ABC News Presidential Debate on September 09, 2024 at the Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) / (R) Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump departs a campaign event. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

As part of her own debate preparation, Harris is working with longtime Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines, a Democrat political consultant, so that he can reenact the former president and take on back-and-forth debate arguments against Harris where he pretends to be Trump.

Harris claims that she has a deeper psychological understanding of Trump. She has tried her best to demonstrate in speeches, such as her remarks at the DNC, that she would be “a better leader” than he would, attempting to make him look weaker than he is.

President Joe Biden’s dismal performance in the June 27th debate versus Trump prompted major changes and major controversy, as the Democrat Party now had to face that their public (and online) claims of Biden being mentally strong enough for the job was made to look like a mockery, proving the Republicans right. He eventually resigned as the Democrat nominee and endorsed Harris.

“I let him [Biden] talk. I’m gonna let her talk,” Trump said during the Hannity town hall, referring to how Democrats are claiming that he won’t let Kamala Harris get a word in when it’s her turn to speak.

According to Trump advisers, there won’t be any differences between this debate and the last one with Biden, and the former president won’t be doing any more conventional preparation. There aren’t any sets, playacting, or stand-ins, as Trump “doesn’t need any of that.”

Trump already has regular meetings with policy advisers who are subject matter experts on potential debate topics. They discuss the problems, Trump’s decisions from his first term in office, and his ambitions for a second term during these unofficial meetings.

“I have meetings on it. We talk about it. But there’s not a lot you can do. You either know your subject or not. You either have good policy or not,” Trump said in a radio interview.

This time, in relation to the debate, Trump has voiced having meetings with Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democrat lawmaker and presidential contender. Gabbard was called in particularly to assist Trump this time around since she is more familiar with Harris, having debated her during the 2020 Democratic primary. Additionally, she recently hosted a town hall in Wisconsin with Trump.

“We look forward for the opportunity for Americans to see her on stage, incapable of defending her policies and flip-flops,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. “The president’s proven he has a command of the issues, she does not.”

Harris’s team is hoping that Trump will appear like an “extremist” and that they will capitalize on the excitement that her brief campaign generated by using the debate as a launchpad. The campaign intends to reach over a million voters by holding 2,000 volunteer-run events throughout the pre-debate weekend.