Harris’s Debate Prep Is Underway at Howard University

Kamala Harris participated in a mock presidential debate on Monday at Howard University in Washington, taking time out of her campaign schedule to refine her approach to former President Donald J. Trump before their scheduled debate on Sept. 10.

Ms. Harris is working on her debate preparations with a small group of advisers, several of whom have known her since before she became vice president. Her debate preparations were confirmed by three people briefed on the plans but who were not authorized to publicly detail them.

Ms. Harris has participated in at least one other mock debate in recent days, two of those people said.

Rohini Kosoglu, a former policy director who was a chief of staff to Ms. Harris in the Senate and later left the vice president’s office in 2022, is helping lead the preparations. So is Karen Dunn, an attorney who helped prepare Ms. Harris for her vice-presidential debate in 2020.

Sean Clegg, a former lead strategist on Ms. Harris’s 2020 campaign, has also been brought on to help, according to several people briefed on the plans but who were not authorized to publicly detail them. (Ron Klain, who prepared President Biden for his disastrous debate against Mr. Trump on June 27, is not expected to aid Ms. Harris. But he has offered to help Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Ms. Harris’s running mate, prepare for a debate against Mr. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, according to a person briefed on the discussions. Mr. Walz’s debate prep team has not yet been set.)

Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump agreed to participate in a presidential debate, hosted by ABC, on Sept. 10. Their respective campaigns are hashing out whether or not the two would appear onstage together again and, if so, how many times. On