Democrat nominee Joe Biden should concentrate more during Tuesday night's first debate on presenting himself as a "visionary" and less on being a "fact-checker" for what President Donald Trump says, GOP strategist Karl Rove said Monday.
"Remember, just recently he said 200 million Americans had died of coronavirus and he confused Iran and Iraq," Rove said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "I would not be the guy to make my strategy on being 'I'll be The Washington Post and be the fact-checker of the debate.'"
Instead, Biden wants to "be the guy with the vision for the country and a way to unite the country and move us together," said Rove.
Also, there have been reports that Trump has been downplaying his debate preparation, but Rove said he would not underestimate the president's efforts.
"One of the people sitting there in that White House briefing room last night, Chris Christie, is probably very helpful to the president," said Rove. "He has the ability to get to the nub of the thing. He did that in his own debate performance in 2016 because he needed to take down Marco Rubio and he did in that debate."
Rove added that the first debate clash between Trump and Biden will be a contest.
"I think my old companion from the Bush campaign put it right," he said. "One guy will show up like it's a boxing match and the other thinks it's the World Wrestling Foundation. How they clash will be interesting."
He also said he doesn't expect the debates to change many minds, but still, even with a smaller number of people who can be affected than in the past, "that could be enough in a close election."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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