Republican strategist Karl Rove said Tuesday that former President Trump made a mistake by “lowering the bar” for Vice President Harris in the lead-up to the presidential debate.
“I think it was a mistake for Trump to basically diminish her, calling her stupid and lowering the bar for her because expectations matter a lot in these kinds of things,” Rove told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
The high-stakes debate is taking place in Philadelphia. It’s the only debate scheduled between Trump and Harris, who only entered the presidential contest in July after President Biden dropped out of the race. Biden did so after coming under enormous pressure from Democrats following a disastrous debate against Trump.
Trump has shifted gears since Harris joined the race, nicknaming her “Comrade Kamala,” among other criticisms.
Rove said he believes the candidate who comes out on the debate stage looking more presidential will “have an advantage in the aftermath of this.”
Polls have shown a close race, and Rove said he expects it will be tight as Election Day draws nearer.
He predicts that the debate will do little to shift polls and that the majority of voters have made up their minds, but added a “little movement matters a lot when you have a race as tight as this one.”
Rove acknowledged that the race is centered on just a handful of states that will decide the outcome of this year’s election, compared to past election cycles that focused on several more.
“We’re going to be [on] an endless tour from Nevada to Arizona to Georgia to North Carolina to Pennsylvania … Wisconsin and Michigan,” Rove said.