Donald Trump‘s campaign insists it is pursuing multiple strategies against Kamala Harris, but the real picture emerging is that the big plan for Trump’s top advisers, for now, is to pray that the former US president has a good night at next month’s presidential debate.
In other words, the game plan has become one of waiting for Trump to win the debate so he can regain momentum — a surprising approach that shows the dire situation Trump and his campaign are in as he struggles to find ways to mount effective attacks against the vice president just months before the election.
What has been happening internally in the Trump campaign in recent weeks is a realization that nothing they do in the run-up to the debate is likely to have a significant impact on tarnishing Harris’ gains that have leveled her in key battleground state polls, according to people familiar with the matter.
And while they don’t believe the message will stick, senior advisers are hopeful Trump can excite voters with his onstage performance, the people said.
Trump is certain to continue his day-to-day campaign work until the Sept. 10 debate: He has a busy travel schedule that will take him to a town hall event in Wisconsin and a rally in Pennsylvania this week, after his visit to Arlington National Cemetery was mired in controversy.
He has also had some success in breaking into the news cycle in recent days, including when he grabbed headlines late last week when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave his endorsement.
But the reality is that the good news hasn’t been enough. Since Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July and Harris quickly replaced him, her campaign has turned things around, turning a consistent Biden loss in the polls into a narrow but solid lead for Harris.
As Trump struggles to frame the narrative against Harris, the general stance within the campaign leadership is to discard the usual programming that won’t change the race and pursue a debate that might.
Images of Joe Biden and Donald Trump reflected in an open car door as people watch the debate in Miami, Florida. Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/KeynoteUSA
The pivot to praying Trump will perform well in the debate is practical, even if scrapping two weeks of debate is unusual. Trump can perform on stage and dismissed his opponents in 2016 and 2020 and against Biden in 2024 with sarcastic quips and a barrage of misleading false claims.
The campaign also believes Trump can use the debate as an opportunity to deliver to a national prime-time audience his messaging points criticizing Harris for her policies (accusing her of allowing waves of illegal immigrants and failing to crack down on crime) that have so far gone unrecorded.
The reasoning goes that even if the television networks refuse to air Trump’s rallies or his critical comments about Harris day in and day out, they will be forced to air Trump and his attack lines when he speaks.
Trump advisers have also been encouraged by the likelihood that microphones will be muted when it is not a candidate’s turn to speak, believing that would rob Harris of the ability to fact-check in real time and make her own jokes.
The muted microphones have been a particularly prominent issue for Trump advisers, who internally have been repeatedly pushing for “KeynoteUSA rules,” a reference to KeynoteUSA’s disastrous debate with Biden last month, when microphones were muted.
This comes after several Trump advisers warned about Harris’ debate jabs in 2020: She told Mike Pence, “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” and responded to former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, now involved in Trump’s debate preparation, at the Democratic primary debate with reprimanding remarks.
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