Vice President Kamala Harris wants to rattle Trump at the debate and shatter the facade that he has been hiding behind.
NBC News reported on the Harris debate prep:
A source told NBC News that while Harris’ team is preparing to talk about a variety of topics, the campaign very much views the optics of the debate as critically important. To that end, the source said, Harris and her team are focusing on homing in on how to needle Trump to rattle him.
In that sense, the source said, it’s going to be less about substance and more about showcasing Harris as a woman who isn’t scared and isn’t going to cower and who is standing up to Trump and holding him accountable.
Her campaign also hopes to “remind people of what it was like during Donald Trump’s years,” the source said.
Donald Trump can’t stand being stood up to. If Harris stands up to Trump during the debate, he will lose it. Because all of the focus was on Joe Biden at the previous presidential debate, many people have forgotten how bad Donald Trump was and how he turned voters off. Trump lacked his old energy of years ago and rambled about golf by the end of the debate. Trump doesn’t have the stamina or focus to stay on message for a full presidential debate.
If Harris gets under Trump’s skin, which it is almost certain that she will, given that Trump is losing in the polls and increasingly desperate, she will be able to remind voters of why they tossed him out of office in 2020.
Trump won’t be able to handle a woman standing up to him.
The Harris campaign has one thing right. Presidential debates aren’t about policy. Presidential debates are about entertainment and allowing voters to see the candidates side by side.
Presidential debates create perceptions. Kamala Harris has the chance to create the perception that she is a president in waiting while at the same time reinforcing the perception that Trump is unfit for office.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association