RealClearPolitics White House reporter Phillip Wegmann told The Daily Wire before the debate on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris‘ team wants to make her first face-off with former President Donald Trump “less about policy [and] more about personality.”
Wegmann, speaking to Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips at the debate venue in Philadelphia, said that Harris has been “hunkered down” for the past “three or four days” in Pennsylvania preparing for the debate with former Obama and Clinton advisers.
“They want to knock Trump off of his game. They want to get him to talk less about policy, more about personality,” Wegmann added. “If they can make this debate look like that seminar for black journalists earlier this summer, where Trump was wildly gesticulating, that’s a win for them in their mind.”
Heading into the debate, Trump is leaning on the advantage of being a well-known candidate and commander-in-chief while Harris’ exact policy positions are still unknown to voters, Wegmann said, citing a recent New York Times/Siena poll which showed that 87% of respondents said they already knew everything they need to know about Trump. Only 67% of voters, however, said the same of Harris.
“That’s somewhat of an advantage, according to the Trump campaign, because he doesn’t have to make that introduction,” Wegmann said. “Instead, he just has to say, ‘This is Harris; this is her policy. Her policy is bad; go with me.’”
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Wegmann told The Daily Wire that Trump will win the debate if he “sticks to the issues” and stays “as disciplined as he was during the second debate against Joe Biden in 2020 or the first debate against Biden in 2024.”
“Harris wins if she’s able to finish the introduction,” Wegmann continued. “And also to draw a contrast with Trump, not just on policy, but on temperament and personality.”
“They want to knock Donald Trump off of his game. They want to get him to talk less about policy and more about personality.”@PhilipWegmann and @cabot_phillips talk about the Harris campaign’s strategy and how Trump can win tonight’s presidential debate. pic.twitter.com/8cgpt1lCGt
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 10, 2024
Harris has been slammed by Republicans and the Trump campaign for refusing to reveal her policy platform after becoming the Democratic nominee. This week, Harris finally released a platform on her campaign website, where she doubled down on leftist policies.
The Tuesday night debate on ABC could be the only time the two nominees face each other on stage before the election. The two candidates remain neck-and-neck in most polls, including in each of the battleground states.
