Trump gets help from Tulsi Gabbard ahead of Kamala Harris debate

Days ahead of his first presidential debate with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, Donald Trump has received help from an unlikely ally for his preparations — former Democratic Party leader Tulsi Gabbard. According to a report in The New York Times, the former US President has enlisted the help of Gabbard to help him sharpen his attacks against Harris in the September 10 debate.

The development comes amid a surging enthusiasm for Harris after President Joe Biden, under pressure following a lacklustre debate performance with Trump, dropped out of the presidential race.

Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party after her 2020 presidential bid, is reportedly helping Trump during practice sessions at the Republican’s private club and home, Mar-a-Lago.

The development was confirmed by Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Donald Trump, to The New York Times.

“The former president 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,” the spokesperson said.

In fact, one of the key reasons why Gabbard was chosen was due to her impressive performance when debating with Harris in 2019 during the Democratic primary. During the debate, Gabbard had delivered a stinging attack against Harris’s record as a prosecutor.

Gabbard had singled out Harris for putting 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and also accused her of initially blocking evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row. The debate proved to be Harris’s undoing as she dropped out of that race in December 2019.

On the other hand, Harris has also stepped up efforts to tackle Trump and held her first formal debate training session earlier this week at Howard University, CNN reported. Harris is reportedly receiving help from two senior advisers of Hillary Clinton, Philippe Reines and Karen Dunn, for her preparations.