NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd on Monday outlined what he believes is the most significant mistake former President Donald Trump could make in his upcoming debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump and Harris are set to face each other in their only slated presidential debate on ABC News on Tuesday. Todd, on “Chris Jansing Reports,” said Trump must avoid levying “personal” attacks against Harris if he wants to win the debate.
WATCH:
“If he goes after her in the ways he went after [former Democratic nominee] Hillary Clinton … Look, she was a very polarizing figure in 2016, and in some ways, the public, why they did, I don’t know, sort of accepted his harsh attacks on her in a way that I don’t think, if he uses those same techniques on Kamala Harris, I think they’re likely to boomerang badly in his direction,” Todd said. “So that’s what I think. His inability to not go on the attack in a personal way against her, his inability to sort of restrain himself on those things is what I think is his biggest risk here.”
Trump dubbed Clinton “such a nasty woman” during their third 2016 presidential debate, according to a transcript. The former president also referred to Clinton as “crooked Hillary” during his 2016 campaign.
Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza on Friday said he believes Harris has more at stake in the debate than Trump.
“I think she has more riding on it … Trump has a very high floor in terms of voter support and a very low ceiling, he basically moves between 46% and 48% of the vote,” Cillizza said. “He doesn’t go to 52% or 51%. He doesn’t go to 40%. So I don’t know how his numbers move. I think she has potentially more movement there.”
The Harris campaign on Wednesday consented to the Trump campaign’s request for muted microphone rules that are analogous to the ones CNN enforced during the June 27 debate with Biden. Trump has challenged Harris to two additional debates, but the ABC debate is the only one that is officially scheduled.
Harris’ campaign senior spokesperson Adrienne Elrod and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro both recently warned not to “underestimate” how Trump will perform in the debate, noting his skill and experience level.
Harris is only beating Trump by .1% in the main seven battleground states, according to the RealClearPolling average. The former president is leading Harris 48% to 47% nationally, according to a Sunday New York Times/Siena College poll conducted from Sept. 3 to Sept. 6.
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