Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is being lined up to stand in for Joe Biden as President Trump and his campaign team prepare for this year’s election debates four years after he took on the role of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last time around.
Details emerged from a meeting held two weeks ago at the president’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey as some of his closest advisers gathered to game out their debate strategy.
Axios reported that Trump met with son-in-law Jared Kushner, campaign manager Bill Stepien, senior adviser Jason Miller, and Christie.
They reportedly agreed to meet at least every 10 days ahead of the first debate, which is scheduled for the end of September at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Although the team did not specifically discuss Christie’s role in the rehearsals, a source told Axios that Trump had privately indicated that he wanted him to play his opponent after telling associates that the former governor was “was better than Hillary” and “harder to debate than Hillary” in 2016.
The Trump campaign is intent on drawing Biden further into the heat of battle at a time when their opponent seems content to allow the election to become a referendum on the president’s performance.
Trump’s aides believe that Biden will steer clear of tough interviews before polling day, which heightens the importance of strong debate performances.
“I don’t think [Trump] sees the debates as the last inflection points, but potentially the most important,” a source said.
“I think he always thinks he can create an inflection point. But he has verbalized how important these are going to be.”
After weeks of depicting Biden as a frail, forgetful, gaffe-prone speaker, aides have also begun trying to rebalance expectations.
Miller recently told the Washington Post: “Joe Biden is actually a very good debater. He doesn’t have as many gaffes as he does in his everyday interviews.”
