Biden's plan for the first presidential debate against Trump

President and former VP go head-to-head on Tuesday night

VP likely to attack president's handling of coronavirus pandemic (Getty Images)

With less than six weeks to go before election day, team Biden will be looking to score an early victory over president Trump by winning tomorrow night's presidential debate, the first of the 2020 campaign.

The plan? Keep it simple. At least that was the message from Mr Biden, 77, who told reporters at a campaign rally in Delaware on Sunday he plans to "tell the truth", when asked how he could beat the commander-in-chief, 74.

And with the Washington Post recently reporting the president has made 20,000 false or misleading statements since entering the White House, it appears the former vice president will have plenty to go on.

Tuesday's debate, the first of three televised encounters, is likely to focus on the coronavirus pandemic, the economy and the GOP's decison to press ahead with replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG), the late Supreme Court Justice, before November's poll.

With millions of Americans still out of work and the US at the top of the pile in terms of coronavirus deaths, Mr Biden is expected to go in hard on the president's handling of the pandemic.  

He is also likely to take the president to task on denying RBG her dying wish by nominating Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative pro-life lawyer, to the highest court in the land.  

Should the Republican-controlled Senate confirm the nomination - as is expected - then it would would reshape the court for a generation, and have implications for some of the most fiercely contested laws in the US, including reproductive rights.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump - who on Sunday repeated his call for both himself and "sleepy Joe" to be tested for drugs ahead of the debate - will attempt to portray a Biden presidency as an existential threat to the US.

Ever since protests over the killing of George Floyd erupted in states across the country, the president has sought to push the narrative that Democrat-controlled cities are lawless and out of control. Mr Biden will want to appear strong on law and order.

While Biden's team reportedly believes the significance of the debate may be exaggerated, the Democratic nominee has been aggressively preparing to take on the president.

Aides have been reportedly holding mock debate sessions featuring Bob Bauer, a senior Biden adviser and former White House general counsel, playing the role of Trump.

"I'm sure the president will throw everything he can at (Biden). My guess is that they're preparing for that — bombarding him with insults and weird digressions," said Jay Carney, a former aide to Biden and President Barack Obama.

Mr Trump has claimed he has skipped formal preparation, though he said on Sunday that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his former 2016 primary rival, Chris Christie, are helping him.

"We had a little debate prep before we came here," the president told reporters as Mr Giuliani and Mr Christie looked on in the press briefing room at the White House.

If you can follow all the action from Tuesday night's debate on The Independent's live blog.