Sources say campaign is concerned that Trump may engage in the kind of self-sabotage that turned off voters in 2020
Donald Trumpās campaign is most concerned going into the debate against Kamala Harris with the former presidentās mood, afraid that the mercurial Trump could engage in the kind of self-sabotage that turned off voters in the 2020 presidential election, according to people familiar with the situation.
The campaignās internal refrain is whether they get āhappy Trumpā or āangry Trumpā, the people said, as they count down the days to perhaps the final presidential debate this cycle.
Tuesday nightās televised debate is widely seen as a crux moment in the rebooted 2024 campaign. Since Joe Biden dropped out of the race after a campaign-killing debate performance crystalized fears over his age and mental acuity, Harris has turned the race on its head.
I think Trump is going to snort enough of whatever he snorts that he shows up energized. What he says will be rambling nonsense, as it always is, but heāll say it confidently. The story on the Trump side will be that he exceeded expectations, and that heās going to gain momentum again.
Harris is more of an X factor, but the buildup to the debate (felon vs. prosecutor) means that she has to win decisively in the eyes of both the left and the middle just to meet expectations. I hope she somehow exceeds them or has a few moments that steal the show, but itās more likely that Trump being able to speak semi-coherently will be the top story regardless of anything Harris does.
I hope Iām wrong.
Iāve been wondering the same thing for a long time now. People seem so excited to see Harris ābeatā Trump in a debate but itās obvious that will never happen in any meaningful sense. Trumpās supporters are clearly not using any traditional (or rational) metric to evaluate his public speaking and people who donāt support Trump will only find things to nitpick Harris on. I donāt see the upside for Harris unless she knocks it out of the park and thatās such a stupid situation to be in considering the obvious disparity in the quality of these two candidates.
Iām convinced our media is hell-bent on promoting Trump at any opportunity.
I feel like Trump could do anything on that stage and the story pushed out by the media will be some weird criticism about how disappointing Harrisā performance was.
Like, Trump could answer every single question with a rant about how cheeseburgers just arenāt as good as they used to be and no-one would bat an eye. Then the story for weeks will be about how āHarris just wasnāt detailed enough about how her economic policies. She didnāt even mention how the Distillerās Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS)/cash corn ratio would change per week over the next decade or two. Harris clearly is too light on the policy front.ā
I hope Iām wrong, but Iāve come to expect the worst from our media lately.
Of course. The media wants outrage, scandals, they want DRAMA. A competent, viable government does not produce those.things, so they love trump. Trump is ratings, even as he burns down our nation and sells the charcoal to foreign countries.
Yep. Im more worried than excited. I see very little opportunity that trump takes a hit and a lot of chances for Harris to falter. Of course thatās double standards considering trump is most likely dementia addled, drugged up, and has no expectation of coherence but thatās apparently just OK now to a disgustingly large amount of people.