#Trump and Biden prep for debate with fake rivals

With less than five weeks to go to the Nov. 3 election, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday will face off live on the same stage for the first of three debates, one that is sure to be dominated by the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic and the violent protests that have rocked cities across the United States.

Trump said he’s been too busy being president to do much debate preparation, but revealed Sunday that former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani have been helping him, while Biden has been holed up for days in his Wilmington, Del., home prepping for the contest.

“I’m running a country. I don’t have the luxury,” Trump said at a White House briefing on Sunday. “Sometimes, you can go too much in that stuff, you know. Sometimes you can go too much.”

Biden has been holding mock sessions, with Bob Bauer, a senior aide and former White House general counsel, playing the part of the president.

Democratic strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders — who voted for Trump in 2016, but is now supporting Biden — said, “Momentum trumps everything . . . I don’t know where the hell [Trump’s] going to get it, except the debate.”

By contrast, “Biden needs to just show people his cognitive skills haven’t gone away, which they haven’t . . . He’s always been a gaffe machine,” Saunders said.

With Wires