Different opponents, same insults: Is Trump using 'pre-bunking' tactics ahead of debate with Biden?

Former US President Donald Trump has unleashed a barrage of baseless accusations and attacks against current President Joe Biden, hours before the highly-anticipated debate between the two archnemesis.

In a familiar rehash of tactics, Trump intensified demands that Biden should take a drug test and accused him of being “higher than a kite” in last January’s State of the Union address. The former reality television star went on a social media rant against Biden and frequently referred to him as “crooked Joe”.

“DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN??? I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform this week. The post came after the repeatedly told his supporters that Biden would come to the debate “jacked up” after being given “a shot in the ass”.

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Not only this, Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician under Trump and Barack Obama jumped on the bandwagon and wrote a letter to Biden urging him to take a drug test. It is pertinent to note that after his stint at the White House, Jackson is currently serving as a Republican congressman from Texas.

Trump and his campaign attack debate moderators

The former president has constantly hurled jabs at Jake Tapper, one of the CNN moderators in Thursday’s debate which is scheduled to take place in Atlanta. Trump questioned his impartiality and frequently referred to him as a “fake Tapper” in his speeches and interviews.

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The business-mogul-turned politician was also supported by his campaign’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. Leavitt attacked Tapper twice in an interview, questioning his credibility. Trump’s son also joined the saga.

“Understand that he’s not just going to be debating Joe Biden, he’s going to be debating CNN,” Eric Trump told Fox News on Sunday. He went on to insist that the American network has planned to give Biden a “free pass”.

Not only this, Trump’s supporters also questioned the impartiality of Dana Bash, Tapper’s co-moderator, partly by falsely stating she is married to Jeremy Bash, a former CIA chief of staff.

However, the marriage between Dana and Jeremy Bash ended in 2007 and she eventually married American news anchor John King. The marriage between King and Dana also lasted till 2007.

Different opponents, the same insults

Interestingly, Trump echoed similar claims against his erstwhile nemesis Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign. He went on to accuse the then-Democratic Party presidential hopeful of being suspiciously “pumped up” at a presidential debate and demanded that she take a drug test before the next one.

Many experts defined these tactics as “pre-bunking”. “It’s called pre-bunking. He’s preparing his audience to dismiss the entire event,” Joan Donovan, a media studies professor at Boston University told the Washington Post. “It’s a communication strategy that is part of his playbook," he added.

With inputs from agencies