Former President Trump’s advisers and allies argue he enters next week’s debate against Vice President Harris with several advantages going for him.
He is a more seasoned debater, particularly on the national stage. It’s Harris who has to introduce herself and her policies to a large swath of the public. And polls show Trump with an advantage on key issues like the economy and immigration.
The question, as is often the case with Trump, is whether he can keep his cool against a younger opponent who is a former prosecutor and a woman of color. His appearances on the campaign trail, where he has insulted Harris’s intelligence, questioned her racial identity and mocked her laugh, suggest it won’t be easy.
“He just needs to be clear about what she and the administration have done and remind people about the things that they feel like he did better,” said one Republican who has worked with Trump. “If he gets into personal nonsense, obviously that will hurt him, and that will be an opportunity for her to play the victim and be snappy and witty.”
But the former president also has significant experience to fall back on. He debated then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton three times in 2016, and he debated President Biden twice in 2020 and again in June, preceding his exit from the 2024 race.
Read more at The Hill.com
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