Donald Trump’s campaign team is worried that he’s going to mess up in his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday.
The staffers reportedly don’t know if a “happy Trump” or “angry Trump” will show up at the National Constitution Hall in Philadelphia, where ABC News will be hosting the debate, according to unnamed sources who spoke to The Guardian.
If Trump is frustrated, he may resort to personal insults, taking aim at Harris’s race and gender and hurting voters’ perceptions, which some of his fellow Republicans have criticized as counterproductive. Trump could also go into one of his angry rants, which gets his MAGA base excited but could alienate independent and swing voters.
After President Biden’s poor showing in June’s debate with Trump, Biden faced criticism and pressure that led to him dropping out of the race. Harris’s entry to the top of the Democratic debate has reversed Trump’s momentum, making his campaign desperate for a winning attack line or other means to regain their polling edge.
As such, Trump’s team hopes that a strong, winning performance can improve his standing. Ever since Harris entered the race, the Trump-Vance campaign has floundered, with damaging revelations about Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance. His comments over people without children and his inability to interact normally with the public have not helped the campaign’s prospects.
Meanwhile, Harris’s selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz seems like a masterstroke in comparison, thanks to Walz’s strong record as a teacher and military veteran. The Democratic vice presidential candidate has also produced some powerful sound bites and hit Republicans hard with one of the strongest and simplest Democratic attack lines in years: calling them weird.
Like in June’s debate, each candidate’s microphones will be muted when it’s not their turn to speak, which is a relief to Trump staffers who think his interruptions will make him look bad. Unlike with Biden, Harris will have rhetorical skills that she honed in her days as a prosecutor, which could easily rattle a convicted felon showing signs of cognitive decline.
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