Harris is bracing for potentially volatile moments in his first debate against Trump

Vice President Kamala Harris has been poring over briefing books and workshopping answers to policy questions while mingling with aides at a Pittsburgh hotel to prepare to face former President Donald Trump, according to multiple sources familiar with her preparations for Tuesday’s debate.

Sources said Harris has devised ways to intersperse his biography with his answers in an effort to introduce himself to Americans who may not yet know much about how he grew up or his career before becoming vice president. They said he’s even been strategizing how to approach a potential handshake with Trump on stage (result: it’s likely a game-time decision).

But Harris is also preparing for many possible unscripted — and perhaps historic — moments, including the possibility that Trump will make disparaging comments about her, according to sources familiar with her preparations, some of whom are directly involved.

“It’s not beyond the pale that he mumbled ‘this b—-,'” one of the sources said. “It’s not unreasonable to assume. You have to be prepared for anything.”

Asked to comment for this story, spokesman Steven Cheung said: “Why are they even thinking about that word associated with him?”

The New York Times has reported that two people have heard Trump use the word to describe Harris in private, though Cheung has denied the statement.

Harris, who arrived at a Pittsburgh hotel Thursday for about five days of preparation for the debate, has not attended a debate in four years and has done few media interviews since announcing his candidacy. However, Trump is more practiced at asking unscripted questions. Sources familiar with Harris’ debate preparations said his aides are busily preparing him for Tuesday because they don’t want to underestimate Trump.

Harris’s close ally Minyon Moore and the vice president’s national security adviser Phil Gordon and former domestic policy adviser Rohini Kosoglu will participate in the process, sources familiar with the preparations said. They said former Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines, who impersonates Trump in the mock debates, has dressed in the former president’s navy blue suit and red tie for the sessions.

Part of the intense focus on preparation also stems from the belief by some Harris aides that Trump fared better than average in his June debate with President Joe Biden.

Still, one of the sources familiar with Harris’ debate preparations expressed concern that Harris may have overprepared and risked a low-quality, policy-heavy performance like then-President Barack Obama’s infamous one in 2012.

“My anxiety is just high because I’m afraid they’re going to overcook him,” the source said of Harris. “I hope they just prepare for 15 questions with Harris and work on style and content.”

Two sources familiar with Harris’ debate preparations said he has been participating in extended, topic-focused mock debate sessions since Thursday, which will continue through Monday. As of Friday morning, he had not gone through the 90-minute debate, the sources said.

Part of what Harris has been preparing for is trying to create moments where Trump might rage like he has in the past, sources familiar with his preparation said.

Two of them said the vice president also plans to grill Trump if he doesn’t tell the truth or gets confused, stumbles over his words, or gets sidetracked. Harris has never spoken to Trump or been face-to-face or side-by-side with him, though one person familiar with his debate preparations said he knows him, given how much he has had to follow and scrutinize him recently.

Part of his provocation strategy is to bring up Project 2025, a conservative administration agenda developed by the Heritage Foundation and at least two dozen Trump allies that the former president has tried to distance himself from, NBC News reported.

Harris aides are adamant that if there is a moment when Trump speaks disparagingly of her, the American people should see and hear it. That’s partly why Harris aides continue to urge ABC News, the debate’s host network, to open the candidates’ microphones whenever there’s too much discussion or debate between them. Currently, the debate rules are that candidates’ microphones are live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak, and are muted when it’s someone else’s turn.

When it’s his turn to speak, sources familiar with his debate preparations said Harris plans to try to tout his experience in elected office and as a prosecutor to make sure he’s qualified for the president’s job. And he plans to highlight his middle-class background, particularly his mother’s work ethic and efforts to save to buy their family home — details his aides hope will contrast with Trump’s background as the child of a wealthy real estate developer, the sources said.

Harris plans to shed some light on his domestic or economic policies, if elected, and what Biden has advocated, sources familiar with his preparations said. But he’s no different from Biden on foreign policy, they said, sticking to the axiom that there’s only one president at a time in these matters.

Picking a key battleground state for several days of debate preparation adds value to Harris, sources said, and mirrors what past presidential candidates have done — from George W. Bush, who prepared for the 2000 debate in Florida, to Barack Obama, who is doing the same. Nevada in 2012.

Harris is also likely to make some unannounced political stops while there, sources familiar with his preparations said. And his team hopes that just by being there, he will gain more media exposure in an important market.

They said his plan is to stay in Pittsburgh until Tuesday, when he will travel directly to Philadelphia for the debate.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com