On Wednesday, ABC’s Good Morning America decided to show their unwavering support for President Biden once again before the presidential debate on Thursday. Chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce also expressed her strong appreciation for former republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger endorsing Biden. Meanwhile, senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott seemed amused by former President Trump’s frustration with a gag order.
Bruce began the segment by stating that Biden was doing “90-minute mock debates at Camp David” this week. Bob Bauer, Biden’s personal attorney, is supposedly playing the role of Trump for Biden’s debate preparation. Unsurprisingly, Bruce declared that the Biden team will hammer Trump “where they feel he is most vulnerable” and that he’s “a danger to democracy.”
Continuing to advocate for the Biden campaign, Bruce noted that “they’re now getting some backup from a Republican former Congressman Adam Kinzinger” who had endorsed President Biden. Bruce went on to say that he “is now officially endorsing the president citing Trump’s role and inciting the January 6th attack on the Capitol.”
Bruce emphasized how Kinzinger was a “lifelong conservative” but has recently been a “vocal critic” of Trump. Bruce stated that his reasons for endorsing Biden was because “the stakes are simply too high in this race” and because Biden has “unwavering support for democracy.”
Once she finished praising Kinzinger, she quickly noted that Biden may bring up “his actions on immigration” at the debate. Looking to boost the Biden campaign once more before concluding, she added “the president’s recent executive action on asylum has cut border encounters by more than 40 percent while they say Republicans continue to block border security measures.”
Co-anchor Linsey Davis asked Scott about Trump’s judge partially lifting his gag order before the debate. Scott stated “the timing here is critical because we know that Donald Trump has been speaking with his advisers about how he should handle questions about his conviction.”
She was seemingly amused by Trump’s frustration about the gag order: “Trump though still not happy about this, calling it ridiculous, insisting that the gag order needs to be lifted entirely. He is still barred from going after prosecutors and their families ahead of his sentencing.”
Scott ended by sharing that “Something the former president is also frustrated about — that there will be no live studio audience at that debate. He says it will be harder for him to gauge how he’s doing, though aides and allies think it might keep him more on message.”
Click “Expand” to view the transcript:
ABC Good Morning America
6/26/2024
7:05:01 – 7:07:25 a.m. EasternLINSEY DAVIS: Now to the countdown to the first presidential debate set for tomorrow night. Our chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce and Rachel Scott, who’s following the Trump campaign, are tracking the very latest. Mary, we’ll start with you. President Biden has been hunkered down at Camp David practicing for the big showdown. What can you tell us?
MARY BRUCE (CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT): Well that intense prep continues today. The final day for him to prepare. The president is doing 90-minute mock debates at Camp David. His personal attorney, Bob Bauer, filling in, playing the role of Donald Trump. And while the president remains behind closed doors publicly, his campaign is continuing to give us a preview of what’s to come tomorrow night. They are hammering Trump where they feel he is most vulnerable.
Today, arguing that he is a danger to democracy and today they’re now getting some backup from a Republican former Congressman Adam Kinzinger is now officially endorsing the president citing Trumps role and inciting the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Now Kinzinger has been a vocal critic of the former president and he says that while he certainly doesn’t agree with President Biden on everything and that as a lifelong conservative he never thought he would see himself endorsing a Democrat, but he says that the stakes are simply too high in this race saying he is backing Biden because of his, quote, “unwavering support for democracy.”
And another issue that the president is likely to tout tomorrow night, his actions on immigration. The White House this morning says that the president’s recent executive action on asylum has cut border encounters by more than 40 percent while they say Republicans continue to block border security measures, Linsey.
DAVIS: Mary, we will be watching that debate together, thank you. Rachel, wanna bring you in here. We know Donald Trump has been holding policy sessions with his advisers and now we’re learning that the judge in his hush money trial has partially lifted the gag order ahead of the debate. What will that mean?
RACHEL SCOTT (SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT): Yeah and the timing here is critical because we know that Donald Trump has been speaking with his advisers about how he should handle questions about his conviction and so now the judge partially lifting this gag order, which will allow the former president to talk about the witnesses in the case including his former fixer Michael Cohen, and also about the jurors who found him guilty on those 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump though still not happy about this, calling it ridiculous, insisting that the gag order needs to be lifted entirely. He is still barred from going after prosecutors and their families ahead of his sentencing. Something the former president is also frustrated about, that there will be no live studio audience at that debate. He says it will be harder for him to gauge how he’s doing, though aides and allies think it might keep him more on message, Linsey.
DAVIS: We will be watching intently tomorrow, Rachel thank you so much and Mary as well.
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