Trump recruits Tulsi Gabbard to Mar-a-Lago to help him prepare for debate

Former President Donald Trump is using former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to help him with debate preparations. 

The former Democratic congresswoman was friends with Trump before her split from the Democratic Party in 2020 and has remained close since. Gabbard joined at least one debate preparation session ahead of the presidential debate on ABC News on Sept. 10, according to the New York Times. 

Gabbard ran for president in 2020 and stood out at the Democratic debates that year for her fierce comebacks, especially on now-Vice President Kamala Harris. She and then-Sen. Harris sparred over foreign policy and criminal justice reform throughout the Democratic primary debate.

Gabbard’s debate style and ability to attack Harris were reportedly part of the reason Trump’s team tapped her for preparation.

Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Gabbard was in Florida preparing with the former president and said in a statement that Trump has “proven to be one of the best debaters in political history as evidenced by his knockout blow to Joe Biden. He does not need traditional debate prep but will continue to meet with respected policy advisers and effective communicators like Tulsi Gabbard, who successfully dominated Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2020.”

Democrats are framing the presidential race as one between a prosecutor and a convicted felon, but in 2020, Harris was attacked for her record as a prosecutor while many other candidates ran to the left. During that race, many Democrats were pushing for vast criminal justice reform.

“There are too many examples to cite,” Gabbard said on the debate stage.

“But [Harris] put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana. She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California. And she fought to keep a cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way,” she continued in a line of attack.

Trump has repeatedly said he does not need to prepare before debates and that his campaign refers to debate preparation as “policy time” to describe their sessions. Before the June debate between Trump and Biden, he did not run through mock debates and instead rehearsed policy discussion points.

“President Trump takes on numerous tough interviews every single week and delivers lengthy rally speeches while standing, demonstrating elite stamina. He does not need to be programmed by staff or shot up with chemicals like Joe Biden does,” Trump adviser Jason Miller said in a statement regarding his preparation for the June CNN debate.

Biden, meanwhile, spent a week at Camp David to prepare, and some of his aides reportedly played Trump during mock debates. The preparation, however, failed, as Biden’s lackluster debate performance led to his exit from the presidential race. His campaign has since said Biden was overprepared for the debate.