Former President Donald Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt was mocked after she went on Fox News to raise expectations for his performance ahead of tomorrow's presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, calling him "one of the most effective debaters in modern political history."
Speaking to network personality Steve Doocy, Leavitt said:
"President Trump is well prepared for the debate tomorrow night, that is right. He doesn't need traditional debate prep. He's proven to be one of the most effective debaters in modern political history."
"Just look at how he knocked off Joe Biden out of the race on the CNN debate. He is very well read on Kamala Harris' record."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
According to The Washington Post, Harris spent the past four days immersed in an intensive “debate camp” at Pittsburgh’s Omni William Penn Hotel. Her team recreated a mock debate stage, enlisted an experienced Trump stand-in to deliver harsh attacks and inflammatory remarks, and subjected the Vice President to hours of rehearsed questions.
Meanwhile, about 330 miles away at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, Trump opted for “policy sessions” with aides and allies over traditional debate practice. In recent weeks, he has attended about a half-dozen of these sessions, supposedly zeroing in on Harris’s policy record.
However, Leavitt is living on another planet if she sincerely believes Trump will actually discuss policy given he has historically used the debate stage to mock his political opponents.
Trump has also become widely known for using nicknames to criticize, insult, or otherwise express commentary about media figures, politicians, and foreign leaders regardless of their party affiliation.
He has previously referred to Biden as "Sleepy Joe," to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as "Crooked Hillary," to Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas," and to Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis as "Ron DeSanctimonious." He has also referred to Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz as "Lyin' Ted."
It would not be out of character for Trump to launch similar attacks at Harris, whom he has nicknamed "Lyin' Kamala" and even "Comrade Kamala" after having initially referred to her as "Laffin' Kamala Harris."
This is not the kind of behavior a master debater would or should exhibit—and it stands in stark contrast to Harris, who just published a detailed list of her policies that includes protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, cutting taxes for the middle class, investing in childcare and long-term care, and making education more affordable.
Leavitt was swiftly criticized.
Leavitt's remarks on Fox came just days after host Shannon Bream praised Trump as "policy-oriented" after he gave a rambling unintelligible response to a question about child care during an event at the Economic Club of New York.
When asked if he would "commit to prioritizing legislation to make child care affordable," Trump never actually answered, instead rambling about "the kind of numbers that I'm talking about," "taxing foreign nations at levels they're not used to but they'll get used to it very quickly," and "having no deficits within a very short period of time coupled with the reductions I told you about on waste and fraud."
These are hardly policy proposals but it's the sort of answer one would expect from a self-proclaimed "stable genius."
Elaine Miles/Facebook
@doctor_kristinm/Threads
@PeteHegseth/X
The White House