Days before the highly anticipated debate between former President Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, in which there are strict rules about things like muted microphones or pre-written notes, the Harris campaign seems to be attempting to downplay her performance in order to safeguard her presidency.
Referring to the Biden-Harris campaign’s strategy, Fox News national correspondent Griff Jenkins said: “Tour de force aren’t going to be what you hear from the headlines, because the campaign’s already downplaying her performance before it even happens.”
Trump aides did not immediately respond to a request for more detail, but Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich said the Trump campaign suggested three debates as an “opportunity [for candidates] to earn their vote on Election Day.”
The three debates are designed to follow different formats: a traditional debate, one in which audience members ask questions and another centered on foreign policy.
Pavlich said, “[Harris] was offered a Fox News debate and she wouldn’t take that one because Bret Baier [and] Martha MacCallum are going to ask real questions and tough questions. She wants nothing to do with it.”
Panelist Joe Concha added that the debate on Fox had to be moderated by “Bret Baier [and] Martha MacCallum” and he focused on tough questions.
“These are the rules that the Biden-Harris campaign agreed to. And if I’m Donald Trump, I’d nail this over and over again – if you’re going to fix all the problems in this country that your administration created, why haven’t you done it already,” Concha continued. “[They] own this, [Trump is] not the incumbent, [Harris] is the incumbent – that’s what Donald Trump should hammer.”
Another Fox News contributor, Mollie Hemmingway likewise blasted the debate prep process by writing: “It is patently absurd to let her get this far into the air — no real interviews, no one asks follow-up questions at all! And I expect them to be very happy with whomever she does.”
The Biden-Harris campaign has accepted the terms put forward by Chris Wallace and company who will moderate Presidential debates, with some thinking fellow Democrats may have taken advantage of language that is sympathetic to President Joe Biden.
