A fundraising email sent to supporters of Donald Trump on Thursday did little to quash rumors that the Republican candidate has largely avoided doing his homework before next Monday’s presidential debate.
Rather than poring over policy papers or practicing on a stand-in of his Democratic opponent, much like Hillary Clinton has said she is doing, Trump has asked his supporters how he should prepare for the “biggest night of [his] campaign.”
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Email recipients were asked to take the “Trump Debate Preparation Survey” to help him determine how best to prepare:
The media keeps asking what I’m doing to prepare for my debate.
Here’s my answer:
While Hillary is listening to a team of psychologists and advisors to teach her what to say, I’m turning to the very people who got me where I am today… YOU.
I’m asking you to take the TRUMP Debate Preparation Survey within the next 24 hours to help me prepare for the biggest night of our campaign.
The survey asks whether Trump should spend more time “attacking Hillary’s policies or defending his own agenda,” use the epithet “Crooked Hillary” on the debate stage and pepper Clinton with questions about her email scandal, among other questions.
Respondents are also asked to name which issues they hope Trump will address “even if moderators fail to bring them up.” Earlier this week, NBC’s Lester Holt, who will moderate the first debate, announced which three topics he plans to focus on: “America’s direction,” “achieving prosperity” and “securing America.”
While Clinton has cleared her campaign schedule for the rest of this week to focus her attention on the upcoming debate, Trump has a Saturday rally planned in Roanoke, Va. His campaign has been reluctant to provide details on what he is doing to prepare, revealing only that he has met with advisers on at least two occasions to test certain lines of attack.
Trump himself told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in June that he didn’t want to “put so much practice in that all of a sudden, you’re not who you are.”
