Hours after the first presidential debate ended on Tuesday night, Kamala Harris’ campaign was calling for more debates.
"Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backwards with Trump,” said the campaign. “That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October. Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”
Trump hedged. In an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday morning, Trump seemed to throw up a bunch of excuses — from skepticism about potential moderators to a belief he didn’t need to debate again because he won the first debate (he did not).
“When you win the debate, I don’t know that I want to do another debate,” he said.
That’s a BIG change from where Trump was less than a month ago when he accepted three debates — one on Fox News, one on ABC and one on NBC — and urged Harris to do the same.
What changed? Harris showed on Tuesday that she was no push-over. That she could stand toe to toe with the former president. And, maybe most importantly, that she knew how to get under Trump’s skin.
Remember that debate negotiations are all about optics and perceived advantage.
Right now, the Harris campaign wants it to look like she is totally unafraid of Trump — that she has taken his measure and believes she can take him down in a one-on-one setting.
Her decision to force a handshake at the start of Tuesday’s debate was part of that calculation — a way to say “I’m here and I am not backing down” to him (and to the public).
The Trump campaign, on the other hand, knows he lost the debate — and lost it largely because he couldn’t execute on a strategy of ignoring Harris’ attempts to troll him.
While another debate could be different, it likely wouldn’t be. Harris would continue to antagonize Trump. Trump would continue to fall for it. The outcome would be very similar to what we saw on Tuesday night.
Which is why, as of today, I would be surprised if there was another debate. Trump will cast himself as a victim of a biased media — and insist that he can’t get a fair shake and so he’s not going to debate.
Now. This is Trump we are talking about. He is utterly changeable. He could announce on Truth Social today that he accepted the NBC debate later this month!
But, I don’t see the advantage in it for him. And he operates purely on advantage.
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The Morning: Did we just watch the last presidential debate?