Donald Trump’s campaign is most worried about the former president’s mood heading into the debate against Kamala Harris. The campaign does not want a rerun of the 2020 debate between then-president Trump and Joe Biden where Trump’s performance was seen as a kind of self-sabotage that turned away voters, the Guardian said in a report.
They are wondering if they will get a “happy Trump” or “angry Trump” on the day of debate against Kamala Harris.
The Guardian report said Kamala Harris’ upward trajectory in the elections appears to have ‘crested’ and the Trump team wants to take this opportunity to take control of the narrative.
They want the Donald Trump that was fast on his feet against Joe Biden earlier this year that forced the US President to drop out and endorse his vice-president Kamala Harris for the race.
However, they do not want a rerun of the 2020 debate between Biden and Trump that repelled swing voters.
Down in opinion polls, then-President Trump came into his first debate with Biden, the former vice president, looking for a fight. But his belligerence worked against him.
He repeatedly interrupted Biden and the moderator, Chris Wallace, to the point where the entire event veered out of control. He attacked Biden’s family. Polls and focus groups conducted afterward showed swing voters were repulsed by his behaviour.
At one point when Trump was interrupting him, Biden said: “Will you shut up, man? This is so unpresidential.”
Wallace told Trump: “I think the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.” Trump, referring to Biden, responded: “And him, too.” Wallace: “Well, frankly you’ve been doing more interrupting.”
Trump campaign fears getting ‘angry Trump’ on the day of the debate because they fear if he becomes frustrated on stage, he might resort to personal, ‘ad hominem’ attacks, similar to recent extreme remarks about Harris that have even alienated some of his supporters.
Trump’s senior advisers claim they have multiple strategies against Harris, but the reality is their main plan is to hope Trump wins the debate to regain momentum, the Guardian’s report said.
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