Trump says Christie, Giuliani assisting debate prep

President Trump said Sunday that his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) are assisting him in preparing for the upcoming presidential debate against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. 

“We had a little debate prep before we came here,” Trump told reporters at a press briefing Sunday evening, gesturing to Christie and Giuliani, both of whom were seated on the side of the room.  

Trump said that a “combination” of Christie and Giuliani have been playing Biden in preparatory sessions before the debate, which is scheduled for Tuesday evening in Cleveland. Trump also said that taking questions from White House reporters was helping to prepare him, before criticizing the press’s treatment of Biden as soft.  

The Washington Post reported last week that Christie and Giuliani were playing a role in the debate preparations.  

Fox News’s Chris Wallace will host the first of three debates next week. Wallace said that debate topics will include the candidates’ records, the Supreme Court, the novel coronavirus, the economy, race and violence in U.S. cities, and the integrity of the election. 

Trump indicated Sunday that he planned to bring up Biden’s son Hunter Biden during the debate, suggesting he profited off of his father’s role as vice president. Hunter Biden has long been a focus of Trump, who was impeached last year for asking Ukraine’s president to investigation Hunter Biden’s role on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. There has been no evidence that Joe Biden or his son engaged in wrongdoing, though Hunter Biden has said he used “poor judgement” in taking the job on the board of the Ukraine company. 

“The son didn’t have a job. He had some big difficulties, and all of a sudden he’s making millions of dollars as soon as his father becomes vice president. I think that will come up. I don’t think Joe can answer it,” Trump told reporters at the briefing.  

Trump also repeated unfounded allegations that Biden took performance-enhancing drugs to improve his performance during the Democratic debates. 

“I am not joking. I am willing to take a drug test, and he should too,” Trump said, describing what he judged as uneven performances by the former vice president at various debates. 

“People say he was on performance-enhancing drugs. A lot of people say that,” Trump said, without naming specific people. He directed reporters to look on the internet. 

The debate comes as Trump trails Biden by a substantial margin in national polling.