Newsmax political analyst Mark Halperin on Friday warned Republicans not to underestimate Vice President Kamala Harris' past performance in the upcoming debate between her and former President Donald Trump.
Trump and Harris are set to face off on Tuesday in ABC News' only presidential debate. Halperin told “Wake Up America” that Harris has proven herself to be a skilled debater in the past and has an elite team preparing her for the debate. (Related article: The Trump campaign's simple plan to destroy Kamala Harris: Take her off script)
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'She's a good study subject': Mark Halperin warns Republicans not to 'bet' that Harris will 'ruin' Trump debate pic.twitter.com/aKwjDhgOKt
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 6, 2024
“If you look at her debate performances, both in '19 against other Democratic candidates and then in '20 against Mike Pence, she actually did pretty well, so she's a good subject to study,” Halperin said. “I think she's got a debate prep team built around her with Karen Dunn and other people who have great experience in this field, and they're people she feels comfortable with.”
“If Republicans were hoping that she would ruin the first interview, that didn't happen. I understand the circumstances, but that didn't happen,” he continued. “Some Republicans were hoping that she would ruin the debate. Again, that could happen, but based on her history as a debater, I wouldn't bet on it.”
Harris' campaign on Wednesday agreed to a request from the Trump campaign to apply the same microphone-mute rules to the ABC debate that CNN imposed during her debate with President Joe Biden on June 27. Trump challenged Harris to three debates during a Mar-a-Lago news conference in August, but the ABC debate is the only one officially scheduled.
Pollster Frank Luntz said Monday that Trump ” [Harris] During the debate, Trump suggested he ask the vice president: “Why has inflation been so high under your administration? If your policies are to blame, what are you going to do specifically? What can be done to fix it? And most importantly, are you better off today than you were four years ago?”
“That's not my question. That was Ronald Reagan's question,” he continued. “If he asked that question explicitly, he would be successful. I don't believe he has the ability to do that.”
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