Mr. Trump’s supporters, in contrast, usually mission serene confidence about how their candidate will carry out in opposition to Mr. Biden.
Mr. Trump “goes to eat him up and spit him out,” mentioned Maria Tiernan, 80, a retiree who noticed the previous president communicate at a rally on Saturday in Philadelphia. “I’m going to make popcorn. I’m having a celebration.”
“Trump has him within the debate, palms down,” mentioned Emmett Taylor, 67, of Camden, N.J.
A number of of Mr. Trump’s supporters apprehensive that he wouldn’t be handled pretty by the controversy’s moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash of CNN. However the sky-high expectations his supporters have for his private efficiency, in addition to their low expectations for Mr. Biden, might change into an issue for Mr. Trump — one he appeared to attempt to get forward of on the Saturday rally by crudely suggesting {that a} robust efficiency by Mr. Biden might come provided that he was utilizing medicine.
“This can be a nice alternative for Biden,” mentioned Mark Longabaugh, a Democratic strategist who labored on Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign. “If he goes in there and exceeds the expectations of the chattering class, I feel he comes out with a win.”
Frances Malone, 68, an impartial voter in Columbus, Ga., who’s disenchanted that Democrats didn’t search a successor to Biden for this 12 months’s election , mentioned she was deeply troubled by the opportunity of Mr. Trump’s successful the election — notably after the assault on the Capitol by his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. The controversy, she mentioned, is “simply one thing that must be finished.”
She is reserving some hope, nonetheless, that Mr. Biden will shock her.
“I’ve a infantile want to see Donald Trump lose his thoughts on digital camera — if he can one way or the other get Trump to point out his true colours, it wouldn’t be the worst factor for me,” she mentioned. “I hope we see the strongest Joe Biden on the market.”
Simon Levien contributed reporting.
