Trump Campaign Says Being President Is Ample Debate Preparation

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s campaign spokesman said Wednesday that being president is ample preparation for the three debates scheduled with Democratic nominee Joe Biden, saying he doesn’t know if the president is going to practice ahead of time.

“I think if you asked the president he would say that he is preparing for debates by running the country as president,” campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told reporters on a conference call. “I don’t know that any actual debate prep has occurred to this point and I don’t know of what plans are to begin that.”

Biden has said he plans to attend the scheduled three debates. On Wednesday, he told reporters he was preparing by reading up on Trump’s “lies.”

“I’ve begun to prepare by going over what the president has said,” Biden said, adding that he would welcome real time fact-checking during the debate.

“I’d love to have a crawler across the screen, a fact-checker,” he said.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Wednesday that journalists from Fox News, C-Span and NBC will moderate the debates. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace will anchor the first in Cleveland on Sept. 29. None of the two dozen moderators the Trump campaign suggested were chosen.

Trump’s campaign has been advocating for earlier debates or for the commission to add one, arguing that early mail-in voting will have begun and that more Americans will be mailing in ballots this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the commission has so far rejected his requests.

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