Donald Trump’s aides have a plan. Stay focused on Kamala Harris, painting her as a San Francisco liberal tied to every mistake Joe Biden made.
It didn’t take long.
Harris rattled people from the moment she strode across the stage, introducing herself by name and shaking hands like an enthusiastic newcomer to campus.
Minutes later he sprung his trap with a choreographed dig about his rallies, ridiculing the speech about Hannibal Lecter and windmills that cause cancer and, most cuttingly, pointing out that supporters to come out before he has finished speaking.
It hit a nerve, as he knew it would.
Donald Trump was quick to launch a personal attack on Kamala Harris and her wild claims about immigrants during a debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
“We had the biggest rally, the most extraordinary rally in political history,” he replied, before blaming Harris for out-of-control immigration, motivating supporters.
‘The people who come in, they are eating cats. They are eating … they are eating the pets of the people who live there.
‘And this is happening in our country, and it’s a shame.’
Harris put his head to one side, his brow knit, his hand up to his chin.
Then he gave his widest grin and laughed.
His body language says it all: I can’t believe he took the bait.
Conservative commentator Matt K. Lewis said that what the debate lacks in intellectual firepower is made for sheer entertainment.
And it betrays Trump’s longstanding weakness, he says, of indiscipline.
“I think the crazy thing is that his team has been saying for days that this is his strategy, that he’s going to try to troll Trump and get under his skin,” he said.
‘Then he did.’
Harris made a beeline for Trump as he took the stage. ‘Kamala Harris,’ she said, extending her hand and introducing herself when they first met.
Harris looked at Trump as he spoke, occasionally furrowing his brow
He laid a series of traps for people who could not resist the trigger
Trump’s aides have privately and publicly urged him to stay focused on her and stay away from personal attacks.
Writing for DailyMail.com last week, Trump ally Kellyanne Conway outlined her thinking and explained the advice she gave when she ran against Hillary Clinton. The same applies to Harris, she said.
‘When the race is mostly about you, it’s harder to win. If the race is about the two of you, where people have a clear and comparative binary choice and can’t see and can’t hear what is learned from them and about them, you are the next president,” he wrote.
The plan for the debate was threefold: Picture Harris as a loony liberal from California; his ties to all of Biden’s policies, high prices, withdrawing from Afghanistan, everything; and use her own words, which her values have not changed, to box her into her leftist notes.
In addition, he has been in office for three and a half years. If he has a plan to fix it, Trump will ask, why hasn’t he started yet?
He manages at times.
They found a wide range of attacks to connect Harris to the eruption of conflicts around the world since Biden came to power.
‘He’s worse than Biden, in my opinion. I think he is the worst president in the history of our country,’ he said
“He’s the worst vice president in the history of our country. But let me tell you. He’s a terrible negotiator.’
Members of the Escondido Republican Women watch from the headquarters of the presidential debate between Democratic presidential candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump in Escondido, California
Reporters and members of the media watch from the spin room as US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participate in a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
As he spoke, he looked at her, so that his facial expression could be followed. Sometimes he puts his hand on his chin, in a quizzical pose.
He looked straight ahead as he spoke.
While he remained calm, measured and on top of policy details, he raised his voice.
“He’s well prepared, he’s set a trap, and he’s chasing every rabbit down every hole,” Chris Christie, no Trump fan, said on ABC after the debate ended.
He was back on track after the second commercial break in time for his closing statement, when he remembered his talking point.
‘So he just started by saying he’s going to do this, he’s going to do it. He will do all these good things. Why didn’t he do it.’
The question for longtime Trump watchers is whether the debate changed anything. The 78-year-old nominee has long campaigned in a freewheeling style with claims and personal attacks.
“While Harris was able to get under Trump’s skin with a well-prepared attack, it is still not clear that he has enough confidence in voters to ultimately make a decision from this exchange,” said Ron Bonjean, a longtime Republican congressional strategist.
‘The question now is how much he moves the needle.
‘However, Trump is doing himself no favors by agreeing to hold this debate.’
They can also hang themselves during self-talk. A tally maintained by CNN shows Harris spoke for 37 minutes and 36 seconds, while Trump used 42 minutes and 52 seconds.
