Trump campaign adds town hall to schedule in preparation for second debate
By GABBY MORRONGIELLO • 10/5/16 2:46 PM
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign added a last-minute town hall to his schedule on Wednesday (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
Donald Trump's campaign added a last-minute town hall to his schedule on Wednesday, allowing the Republican presidential nominee to gain additional practice days before he and Hillary Clinton face off in a similar setting for their second debate.
Trump will host the "small, intimate" Q&A event in Sandown, N.H., on Thursday evening, following his back-to-back rallies on Wednesday in battleground Nevada, his campaign told WMUR. Advisers to the GOP nominee see the town hall as the perfect opportunity for Trump to become acclimated with the format of Sunday's presidential debate in St. Louis, Mo.
That event will be moderated by CNN's Anderson Cooper and ABC's Martha Raddatz and feature pre-submitted questions from American voters. Trump is said to be preparing for the second debate, of which he is under tremendous pressure to deliver a strong performance, by working with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who's reportedly held more than 130 town halls since he was elected governor in 2010.
"This is an entirely different debate. He's preparing for the audience, for how to answer the questions that come up and how to deal with them," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a senior adviser to Trump, told the Washington Post earlier this week. "I've got to tell you, I'm banking on Donald being a lot better at interacting with people than Hillary. That's how her husband won the election."
The Clinton campaign expects Trump to be more patient and presidential during Sunday's debate, which would mark an improvement from his first debate performance when he became increasingly combative in response to Clinton's insults and her questioning of his business acumen.
A strong performance by Trump's running mate in Tuesday's vice presidential debate has put even more pressure on the New York billionaire to do his homework and demonstrate a similar command of the issues.
Trump's Thursday town hall in New Hampshire will mark his second visit to the smallest swing state in one week. The candidate attracted several thousand voters to a rally last week in the Granite State.
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