Trump offers very rare praise for Biden ahead of the debate
After weeks setting a low bar for President Joe Biden at the first presidential debate Donald Trump and his allies are changing course. Gone are the jibes that simply remaining upright would be a victory for Biden, 81. Instead, they are now talking up his debate prowess or hinting that a strong performance could be down to chemical assistance.
'He's gonna be so pumped up. He's gonna be pumped up,' Trump, 78. told supporters at a rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday, before hinting that cocaine would be the secret to an energized performance. 'You know all that stuff that was missing about a month ago from the White House ? What happened?
'Somebody didn't pick up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cocaine. I wonder who that could’ve been. I don't know. Actually, I think it was Joe.' Biden and Trump are due to go head to head in Atlanta next week.
In the meantime, Biden is holed up at the presidential retreat of Camp David immersed in debate preparation, while Trump is taking a less focused approach, honing his attacks at rallies and calling advisers. Up to this week, the former president had been talking down Biden's chances of besting him.
During a recent speech to the National Rifle Association in Dallas he talked up his own meandering speaking style, before turning to what he called the 'low-IQ individual' he will face in the debate. 'If this horrible individual finishes the debate, which I think he will ... if he's standing, if he's standing, they'll say it was a brilliant performance,' said Trump, before imagining the reviews.
'It was a brilliant performance. They've never seen anything like it ... very much reminiscent of the days of FDR.' The narrative that Biden is frail man with a diminished ability to hold public attention during speeches has taken hold of the voting public.
A poll by J.L. Partners found that 49 percent of respondents think he will forget where he is during the debate and 41 percent said they expect him to walk off the wrong side of the stage. Some 50 percent said they expected Trump to win the debate, compared with only 39 percent who think Biden will come out on top.
But that carries a risk for Trump. What if Biden surpasses such low expectations? This week Trump used an appearance on the 'All-in' podcast to begin raising the bar for Biden. 'Well, all I can say is this: I watched him with Paul Ryan, and he destroyed Paul Ryan,' Trump said, referring to the 2012 vice presidential debate. He brought up that debate again later in the interview. 'And he beat Paul Ryan, so, I’m not underestimating him.'
Allies have also floated the idea that caffeine pills, energy drinks or something else could be the key to Biden's performance. 'Whatever Joe drank, ate, took before the State of the Union — maybe it was just Red Bull and caffeine pills,' said Fox News host Sean Hannity recently. 'I don’t know. Whatever it was, that was not the normal Joe. 'We never saw it before, and we haven't seen it since. But we will see it for the debate.'
