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- Giuliani was given the wrong time for a debate prep session, according to an upcoming book.
- He wanted Trump to use a more personal strategy to attack Hunter Biden in the first debate.
- Aides “tricked” Giuliani into giving him a meeting time of 2:00 pm instead of noon, the correct time.
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Last September, then-President Donald Trump sat down for the first in a series of pre-debates sessions ahead with then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
During the session, former GOP Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey played Biden, and Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway replaced Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who would moderate the first debate at Case Western Reserve University of Cleveland.
Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal lawyer at the time, also wanted to participate in the session.
However, he clashed with Christie and Conway over the president’s approach to Biden, to the point where assistants intentionally gave Giuliani the wrong start time for the next prep session, according to a forthcoming book. Washington Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker. .
While Christie suggested that Trump should just bring up Hunter Biden, the Democratic candidate’s son, to deviate him from his path, Giuliani wanted the president to discuss Hunter’s trade relations in Ukraine more.
Leonnig and Rucker detailed the situation in “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” a first copy of which was obtained by Insider.
According to the book, the former New York mayor’s strategy was not well received by many in the room.
Read more: The Definitive Oral History of How Trump Took Over the GOP, As Cruz, Rubio, and 20 Other Insiders Told Us
“Most of the other advisers found Giuliani’s advice to be ‘extremely unnecessary,’ as one characterized his coaching advice for the president,” the book said.
Giuliani looked to return to the next prep session on September 28, a day before the Cleveland debate, but there was a plan in place to tinker with his wishes.
“Aides told Giuliani they would meet at 2:00 pm, when they were to start at noon. They had tricked Giuliani into giving him the wrong time,” the book said.
When Giuliani finally got to the next preparation for the debate, it was so late that he was only able to engage in the last 30 minutes of the session.
During the Cleveland debate, Trump adopted Giuliani’s advice, relentlessly launching personal attacks on Hunter Biden over his past drug addiction issues and attempting to tie him to nefarious trade deals overseas.
Biden swept aside the negative assault and quickly came to his son’s defense.
“My son, like many people [watching] at home had a drug problem, ”he said. “He passed him. He fixed it. He worked there. And I’m proud of him. I am proud of my son. “
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