“I suspect @JoeBiden could do well tonight,” Trump wrote in his tweet posted on October 11, 2012. “Don’t be fooled by his gaffes. He is a seasoned and feisty debater.”
The tweet came just before Biden faced off in the vice presidential debate against Mitt Romney’s running mate, then-Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan.
Trump’s tweet gained traction across social media on Tuesday, as he and Biden are set to face off in the first presidential debate of the election cycle.
“Turns out the President has been preparing for this for 8 years,” Indiana Representative Jim Bank wrote Tuesday in response to the 2012 tweet.
The Twitter account for Biden and running mate Kamala Harris’ “war room,” self-described as an “independent grassroots organization dedicated to electing Biden,” responded to Trump’s tweet, writing, “We think so too, Mr. President,”
Mercedes Schlapp, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, also noted Biden’s debating skills while speaking with Fox News Tuesday: “It’s been 47 years that he’s been a career politician. He’s been debating in the halls of the Senate for a long time.”
Despite Trump’s tweet praising the former vice president, the president’s views on Biden have changed drastically in recent years.
Ahead of the first debate, Trump has suggested that Biden is not mentally fit to serve the country, and has urged that a drug test be given before the debate.
In response, Biden has said that he is not worried about facing Trump in a debate, stating that “people know the president is a liar” during a recent interview with MSNBC News.
“I’m prepared to go out and make my case as to why I think he’s failed and why I think the answers I have to proceed will help the American people, the American economy and make us safer internationally,” Biden added.
Tonight’s debate will be hosted by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace in Cleveland.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
