The Trump campaign claimed the president "finished debating Joe Biden" and bragged about his performance hours before the debate even started Tuesday night.
In a prematurely sent campaign email obtained by POLITICO, the subject line read: "I finished debating Joe Biden." The message was sent to Trump campaign email subscribers about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday; the first presidential debate will begin at 9 p.m.
The text of the email showed President Donald Trump making further past-tense claims about the debate that had yet to take place, saying it will "go down in HISTORY."
"I showed the American People that I will ALWAYS fight to put America First no matter what and that I will NEVER stop working to Make America Great Again," the email read.
Trump went on in the personally addressed email to ask for donations, expressing disappointment that "you chose not to step up and help make TODAY our BEST fundraising day EVER."
Trump will face Biden on the debate stage Tuesday night in a matchup that marks one of the last chances for the presidential candidates to grab the attention of swing-state voters. With Biden leading Trump in the polls — on average, the Democratic candidate’s lead has ranged from 4 percentage points to 10 percentage points since May 1 — the debate could also be Trump’s best opportunity to turn the race around.
Biden’s campaign can probably empathize with the Trump campaign’s trigger-happy efforts. In November 2019, it sent out a similarly premature email six hours before the start of a Democratic debate. That fundraising plea began: “I’m leaving the fifth Democratic debate now.”
Read more: politico.com
