Trump campaign says Harris has higher bar to clear in debate

The Trump campaign argued Monday the stakes are higher for Vice President Harris heading into Tuesday’s highly anticipated presidential debate.

“She’s been wrapped in bubble wrap since securing the nomination, so I think she’s got a far higher bar that she has to clear because a lot of people haven’t seen her pressed with straightforward questions about her record,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Monday on a call organized by the Trump campaign.

Harris and former President Trump will square off Tuesday night for the lone presidential debate currently on the calendar. It will mark the first time the two have met in person, and it comes as polls show a neck and neck race for the White House between the two candidates.

A New York Times/Siena College poll published Sunday found Trump narrowly leading Harris among likely voters nationally, 48 percent to 47 percent.

The findings were within the poll’s margin of error, and the result was largely the same as a New York Times poll published days after President Biden dropped out of the race and Harris replaced him as the Democratic nominee.

The poll found that only 28 percent of likely voters said they felt they needed to know more about Harris, while only 9 percent said they needed to know more about Trump.

Biden ended his candidacy following a disastrous debate performance against Trump in late June in which the president struggled to complete his thoughts or land lines of attack.

Gaetz on Monday called Trump’s June debate the “most dominant performance” in history. Trump’s strategy against Harris, Gaetz said, would be to highlight her record as a prosecutor and tie her directly to the Biden administration’s handling of issues like inflation, immigration and foreign policy.

“If President Trump ties Kamala Harris to her record, which we have every confidence he’ll do, that will be a success because the American people will see what a dangerous, radical liberal she is,” Gaetz said.

While Harris has spent several days preparing for the debate with advisers in Pennsylvania, Trump has eschewed traditional preparation and instead held rallies and sat for interviews.

Senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller argued no amount of preparation will be enough for Harris to face the former president, likening him to an unpredictable champion boxer.

“You can’t prepare for President Trump. There’s just no way to do it,” Miller told reporters. “Imagine like a boxer, you’re trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather or Muhammad Ali. You just you don’t know what angle they’re going to come at you with. You don’t know what style of contrast that they’re going to deliver.”