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PODCAST

Trump Allies Secretly Fear He Botched Debate Expectations for Biden

With Trump and his backers relentlessly smearing Biden as senile, a veteran reporter who’s well sourced in MAGA world explains why Trump allies worry he set expectations for Biden too low.

Donald Trump speaks at a mic
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. on June 22

President Biden and Donald Trump are set to hold their first debate, after Trump and his allies spent weeks mocking Biden’s age with doctored videos and dumb jokes about Biden’s relying on performance-enhancing drugs. Is all that agitprop just chum for the MAGA masses, or does it reflect a genuine belief that Biden actually is so deep into his dotage that he can’t possibly be a worthy debate adversary? We talked to veteran reporter Marc Caputo of The Bulwark, who has a good new report on Trump’s debate prep. Caputo is highly illuminating on what the Trump brain trust is really thinking as we head into the first showdown. Listen to this episode here.