Tuesday night’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump could be one of the most pivotal moments of the presidential campaign.
The stakes are especially high since this is the only debate scheduled before election day. Trump called into NBC News this morning and said he "doesn't know what to expect" from Harris tonight, given her recently changing positions on several key issues.
Listen to the full episode here:
Bill Kristol, a longtime Republican political staffer and conservative commentator who now writes for The Bulwark, joined KNX News’ daily political show Countdown 2024 to discuss what’s at stake on the debate stage.
“This could be the year with the two most important presidential debates,” he said. “Usually they don't change that much, but obviously the first one did, and the second one really could determine, I think, who wins the presidency.”
Kristol said Harris’ challenge is making the case for herself to the American public while also responding to Trump, who has a long-standing habit of lying during debates. Her time to balance those tasks will be limited, since each candidate’s mic will be muted when their opponent speaks.
“Obviously you can't have massive interruptions in a debate, but [Trump] can tell an awful lot of lies in 120 seconds,” Kristol said. “And then you're putting a pretty big burden on Vice President Harris to quickly rebut some of the lies, or stipulate that they’re lies, and then make her own points. She's got a tricky task.”
He said he thinks Harris should stay focused on explaining her agenda rather than focusing on Trump. He added that “the majority of Americans don’t want Trump,” and that all Harris has to do to win is preserve Biden’s vote distribution from the 2020 election.
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Tune in to KNX News 97.1 FM at 6 p.m. Tuesday night to listen live to ABC’s presidential debate.
Listen to the full episode of Countdown 2024 above to hear more from Stuart Stevens, who helped prep George W. Bush for debates during his 2000 campaign. Catch new episodes of Countdown 2024 live at 2:30 p.m. every weekday through Election Day.
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