(News Nation) – rules of Next week’s presidential debate It also includes the ability to mute the microphones of candidates who are not speaking. Will this help former President Donald Trump save himself and avoid a repeat of his 2020 performance?
“I think this will be a huge deterrent for Donald Trump to disrupt Joe Biden,” the Republican strategist and debate coach said. Brett O’Donnell.
“You have to be proactive without being too aggressive, and if you constantly interrupt people, they take that as aggressive,” he told NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Report.”
During the first presidential debate four years ago, Trump frequently interrupted Biden, with Biden even telling him to “shut up,” but O’Donnell said Trump learned from that mistake and was much calmer in the second debate.
“If Donald Trump debates like the second debate (of 2020), the Trump campaign will think it was a great night,” he said.
Earlier this week, Trump appeared to adopt a traditional pre-debate tactic: praising his opponent’s abilities.
“I watched him go up against Paul Ryan, and he beat Paul Ryan,” Trump said on the “All In” podcast, referring to Biden’s 2012 debate with Ryan as his running mate.
“He beat Paul Ryan, so I’m not underestimating him,” Trump added.
“The goal is to cultivate those high expectations so that the other person cannot meet them,” O’Donnell said. “You should have high expectations of Joe Biden. He’s the president of the United States. He’s the incumbent.”
O’Donnell said any debate was a chance for candidates to “rig” the race and tell voters why they should vote for them and not their opponent — “making the debate for the audience,” he said.
“This is a messaging exercise, it has to connect with the public, the local voters, and give them a reason to vote.”
