Aides who clashed with Giuliani intentionally gave him wrong time for Trump debate prep: book

Aides to former President Trump intentionally gave his then-personal attorney Rudy Giuliani the wrong time for a presidential debate preparation event last year, according to a new book. 

The incident is detailed in the forthcoming “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker. 

According to excerpts first obtained by Insider, aides told Giuliani that a prep session for Trump’s first 2020 presidential debate would take place at 2 p.m. when it really started at noon. 

The practice featured former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway acting as the moderator in place of Fox News host Chris Wallace and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) acting in place of then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. 

According to the book, Giuliani’s advice for Trump was to attack Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden repeatedly during the debate. Other aides, including Christie, reportedly suggested he only touch on the subject and not make it a focus.

“Most of the other advisors found Giuliani’s advice to be ‘supremely unhelpful,’ as one characterized his coaching tips for the president,” the book says. 

Giuliani did reportedly show up toward the end of the session, making it in time for the final half-hour.

Insider notes that Trump took Giuliani’s advice regardless, and at the Cleveland debate, he repeatedly took aim at Hunter Biden.

The debate was extremely chaotic, with both candidates flinging insults at one another. Trump repeatedly interrupted Wallace and Joe Biden and attacked the former vice president on multiple fronts, including Hunter Biden’s business dealings and claiming that Joe Biden is not intelligent.

Joe Biden characterized Trump as a “clown” and a “liar” and told him to “shut up” at one point.