(LibertySociety.com) –Marc Lotter, the former director of strategic communications for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, argued on MSNBC’s The Beat that Donald Trump has no real reason to engage in a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, as he currently leads her in the polls. During the segment, host Ari Melber played a clip of Harris expressing her willingness to debate again. In the clip, Harris stated, “Join me on the debate stage. Let’s have another debate. There’s more to talk about, and the voters of America deserve to hear the conversations that I think we should be having.”
However, Trump has publicly declined the offer. Melber asked Lotter why Trump, who has participated in multiple debates in past elections, would now refuse, and whether it could be seen as an admission that the first debate didn’t work in his favor. Lotter dismissed the notion, saying Trump has no incentive to return to the debate stage with Harris, pointing to his polling advantage. He highlighted that Trump is ahead of Harris by several points, both nationally and in key battleground states, and emphasized that Harris is polling worse than Joe Biden at the same point in the 2020 election and even worse than Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
“He was willing to accept a debate on Fox, and Harris’ team declined that,” Lotter explained. “I don’t see a reason why he needs to get back up on stage with her. He’s actually still ahead in this race.” He added that Harris is trailing Trump by three to five points in most battleground states, making it strategically unnecessary for Trump to grant her another opportunity to debate.
Lotter’s argument is that the debate stage holds little value for Trump at this point in the campaign. He noted that Harris’ team missed their chance when they declined an earlier debate on Fox, and now that Trump holds a clear lead, he doesn’t see why the former president should risk giving Harris another opportunity to sway voters. In short, Trump’s team views the polling advantage as a key reason to sit out further debates, preferring to maintain their current momentum rather than risk a shift in the race.
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