In order to counter the vice president's assertion that he is a "serious man" who poses a "very serious" threat if he is elected president again, Donald Trump flexed his political muscles ahead of his debate with Kamala Harris by demonstrating his radical views.
In the past few days, Trump has raged against women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, threatened to imprison election officials he believes to be cheaters, expressed dissatisfaction over Pennsylvania's alleged voting fraud, promised to pardon January 6 rioters, and gone on lengthy, sometimes incoherent tirades that have raised concerns about his mental health.
Prior to Tuesday's contest in Philadelphia, fresh polling indicates that the race is evenly split nationwide, indicating that Harris's surge in popularity following President Joe Biden's removal from the ticket hasn't translated into a decisive advantage.
The contest's closeness demonstrates both Trump's ongoing appeal to tens of millions of Americans as he attempts a political comeback and Harris' enormous burden of trying to preserve an election that appeared certain to be lost by Democrats before Biden withdrew.
This makes Tuesday's debate—the most important pre-election event planned since the pivotal June CNN debate that ultimately brought an end to Biden's campaign—the most important one.
Why Harris must confront Trump with "superhuman focus"
The preparations that each candidate is making show the several routes that voters can choose come November and the stark differences in presidential styles that will result from having Harris or Trump in the Oval Office.
With staff by her side, Harris is holed up in Pittsburgh honing her debate techniques in preparation for Trump. Her decision to attend prep school in Pennsylvania highlights the crucial significance of a state that she will almost definitely need to win in order to become president. According to a CNN source, her advisors are figuring out how she will handle a law requiring candidates to keep their microphones muted while their opponents talk. The vice president had advocated for the prohibition to be lifted in the hopes that, as a former prosecutor, she could discredit Trump immediately. However, she declared to reporters, "I'm ready," on Sunday when taking a stroll through Steel City with her spouse, second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation, considered Harris' dilemma as she works to engage Americans who are curious about her while juggling a sometimes-manic Trump. Buttigieg stated on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that "dealing with Donald Trump in a debate will take almost superhuman focus and discipline." Not because Donald Trump is an expert at elucidating policy concepts and how they will improve people's lives, but rather because this is no ordinary notion. This is due to his skill at taking any structure or form that appears on television and transforming it into a show that is solely focused on him.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Sunday, 28% of potential voters believe that Harris is someone they should learn more about, compared to just 9% who believe the same of her opponent. The vice president may be able to improve in this area. However, she is also under pressure to provide more detail in her explanations of policy reversals on matters like immigration and fracking than she did in a few contentious interviews early in her vice presidential term. Additionally, she has not recently engaged in much adversarial political combat, as evidenced by her refusal to submit to major media interviews (apart from one last month on CNN), which means that a candidate who has occasionally found it difficult to formulate cogent arguments in tense and spontaneous situations enters the debate unprepared.
Trump is still having trouble following the GOP agenda.
Republicans who support Trump have been pleading with him for days to focus on matters like immigration, the economy, and national security. They have also urged him to refrain from acting in a way that would lend credence to Harris's claim that it's time for the nation to move past the chaos and resentment that Trump represents to many voters. According to GOP thought, Harris is not well-suited to serve as a change agent in politics because she is a prominent member of an unpopular administration.
However, Trump's actions leading up to the debate shed light on the worry that he may mishandle the stark contrast highlighted by Sen. Tom Cotton in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "People remember that, when Donald Trump was in office, prices were low, wages were high, and we had peace and stability around the world," the Republican from Arkansas stated on Sunday. "As vice president, Kamala Harris has brought us record high inflation," he continued. Everywhere you look in the world, there is conflict, and our southern border is wide open.
However, in recent days, Trump showed little reluctance to exercise self control.
In the most concerning development, the former president warned that "WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include lengthy prison terms to prevent future instances of this Depravity of Justice" after criticizing what he called "Cheating and Skullduggery" by Democrats in the 2020 election. He then turned his attention to the 2024 election. "Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials," he blasted, threatening to "prosecute at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country."
There isn't any proof that there was corruption in the 2020 election. Judges dismissed Trump's numerous legal challenges, and William Barr, his own attorney general, declared there was no widespread voter fraud. The former president's concerns about authorities who do not share his views on the fairness of this election are all the more concerning given that he attempted to rig the last one. If Trump loses, this will be bad news for the post-election period in November.
Trump's threats also highlight the fallout from his successful legal maneuvers to postpone answering for his meddling in the race until after the results of the upcoming polls, both in a federal case and in Georgia. In the unlikely event that he takes back office, he will probably attempt to keep the Georgia case from going to trial by using his newly acquired legal skills and his restored presidential authority to dismiss special counsel Jack Smith's case from a district court in Washington, DC.
Trump referenced an interview with Tucker Carlson in another Truth Social post, asserting without providing any supporting data that 20% of Pennsylvania's mail-in votes are "fraudulent." The former president has previously appeared to be formulating a plan to contest the results of the 2024 election should he lose.
Trump is simply venting in public; he is not holding fictitious discussions.
Of all the current presidential contenders, Trump has the most unconventional debate preparation.
The former president has indulged in his wilder side in other public appearances in recent days, which has delighted many of his supporters but raised doubts about whether he possesses the self-control and clarity of thought that are typically associated with the presidency.
He provided thorough and clear assessments of the accusations of wrongdoing made against him by women on Friday in an unprecedented on-camera appearance in New York. This was a part of a larger campaign to argue that he is an innocent victim of the weaponization of justice. Based on the NY/Times Siena poll, he lags Harris by 11 points among female voters, thus it doesn't appear like his statements will help him gain ground with them.
During a Wisconsin event on Saturday, Trump frequently veered off topic and complemented Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "chess player." Examples of these digressions included remarks about Hannibal Lecter and Al Capone. Trump asserted that he was the only thing between the United States from a third world war. In addition, he promised to release everyone incarcerated and found guilty "by the Harris regime" for attempting to rig the election on January 6, 2021, bypassing the judicial system and criminal responsibility. He boastfully said that one of his own speeches was given more "brilliantly" than any address made since Franklin Roosevelt. His presentation was full of distortions and exaggerations, but he typically avoided criticism with his fast-paced conspiracy theories and falsehoods.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, was once addressed by Trump as "Leon" in error. Trump and his allies regularly claimed that Biden's mental stability was in doubt when he made similar mistakes. However, concerns about the 78-year-old Trump's suitability for the position of commander in chief and his potential threat to constitutional democracy are also raised by his unconstrained public appearances and seeming trust in theories and unverified facts. But because of his influence within the GOP, he has forced out of the party anyone who could voice similar concerns, such as former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, who last week backed Harris along with her father, former vice president Dick Cheney.
An early look at Trump's prospective second term as president is provided by their growing closeness. The world's richest man will have the opportunity to change federal laws and protections at a time when his companies have significant interests that the government may affect, if he keeps his word and assigns Musk to lead a drive to reduce regulations. Conflict-of-interest disputes arising from this would surpass those that the Republican nominee faced during his first term.
New evidence of Trump's volatile nature and Harris's early success in outperforming Biden in the campaign notwithstanding, the most recent polls indicates that there is no apparent front-runner between them. According to the most recent CNN Poll of Polls, which covers surveys taken between August 23 and September 6, Harris has an average of 49% support, while Trump has 47%. Before the Democratic National Convention, Harris was averaging 50% to Trump's 48% in surveys taken between August 1 and August 16. The new average is essentially unchanged from that time.
