Advisers worry whether ‘happy Trump’ or ‘angry Trump’ will show up to debate
Advisers worry whether ‘happy Trump’ or ‘angry Trump’ will show up to debate
Sources say campaign is concerned that Trump may engage in the kind of self-sabotage that turned off voters in 2020
Sources say campaign is concerned that Trump may engage in the kind of self-sabotage that turned off voters in 2020
Donald Trump’s campaign is most concerned going into the debate against Kamala Harris with the former president’s 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 campaign’s internal refrain is whether they get “happy Trump” or “angry Trump”, the people said, as they count down the days to perhaps the final presidential debate this cycle.
Tuesday night’s 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.
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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 he'll say it confidently. The story on the Trump side will be that he exceeded expectations, and that he's 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 it's more likely that Trump being able to speak semi-coherently will be the top story regardless of anything Harris does.
I hope I'm wrong.
I've been wondering the same thing for a long time now. People seem so excited to see Harris "beat" Trump in a debate but it's obvious that will never happen in any meaningful sense. Trump's supporters are clearly not using any traditional (or rational) metric to evaluate his public speaking and people who don't support Trump will only find things to nitpick Harris on. I don't see the upside for Harris unless she knocks it out of the park and that's such a stupid situation to be in considering the obvious disparity in the quality of these two candidates.
I'm 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 Harris' performance was.
Like, Trump could answer every single question with a rant about how cheeseburgers just aren't as good as they used to be and no-one would bat an eye. Then the story for weeks will be about how "Harris just wasn't detailed enough about how her economic policies. She didn't even mention how the Distiller's 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."
I hope I'm wrong, but I've 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 that's double standards considering trump is most likely dementia addled, drugged up, and has no expectation of coherence but that's apparently just OK now to a disgustingly large amount of people.