Former President Donald Trump has stepped up his campaign schedule ahead of a highly-anticipated debate with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, with campaign officials telling Fox News Digital that meeting with voters and answering reporters' questions is a way to “prepare.”
Trump and Harris are expected to face off in their first debate on ABC News on Tuesday, September 10. The debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
The Harris campaign agreed to the terms outlined in the original agreement, the same ones used during the debate between President Trump and President Biden in June.
Trump and Harris are scheduled to face off for the first time in a debate on ABC News on Tuesday, September 10. (Peter Zay/AFP via Getty Images)
Harris is working with Google lawyers to prepare for debate, but the Trump campaign claims it creates a “conflict of interest”
Biden's debate performance against Trump shook up the election cycle and propelled him to the top of the Democratic field, before he quickly dropped his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris.
“We are pleased that Kamala has finally agreed to the terms of the debate after trying again to enter into negotiations,” a Trump campaign official told Fox News Digital.
The rules are: no notes, no seating, no spectators, no open mic.
Harris' campaign had argued last month that microphones should be left open and unmuted during the debate, but ultimately agreed to the original terms.
Former President Donald Trump is stepping up his campaign schedule ahead of a highly anticipated debate with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)
Ahead of next Tuesday's debate, President Trump has been stepping up his campaign schedule, holding multiple events per day.
President Trump is scheduled to visit Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday for a town hall meeting with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
Trump will visit New York City on Thursday, where he will speak at the Economic Club of New York and later Thursday at the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Trump is scheduled to travel to North Carolina on Friday to meet with law enforcement groups and deliver a speech.
On Saturday, the former president is scheduled to hold a rally in Wisconsin.
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“He's relying heavily on rallies and speeches to prepare for the debates,” a campaign official told Fox News Digital. “Meeting with voters and engaging with the press is also a form of preparation. You've seen him increase his engagement with the media in recent weeks.”
“In many ways, that's how he's prepared,” the source added.
Fox News Digital has learned that campaign senior adviser Jason Miller is leading preparations for the debate, with Stephen Miller and his policy team also participating.
As for the Harris campaign, Fox News Digital reported last month that the vice president had hired attorney Karen Dunn of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, who helped Harris prepare for her 2020 vice presidential debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence, to help her with debate preparations.
Dunn is also serving as lead counsel for Google in the Biden-Harris administration's lawsuit against the tech giant.
The case, United States v. Google LLC, is an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Biden-Harris administration targeting Google's digital advertising practices. The trial is scheduled to begin on September 9, the day before the first presidential debate.
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“Kamala Harris will never stand up to Big Tech because she's being coached by Google's top lawyer on what to say in the debates,” Tim Murtaugh, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told Fox News Digital. “Just think how egregious it is that the administration is suing Google and Harris is taking political advice from the defense lawyers.”
“Any first-year law student knows that's a conflict of interest,” Murtaugh said.
Neither the Harris campaign nor Dunn responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
