Harris has a 'debating edge' and Trump 'should be scared': analysis

30 August 2024

On Tuesday, September 10, ABC News is scheduled to host the first 2024 presidential debate between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — that is, if Trump participates.

Trump and Harris are still fighting over the rules of the debate, which will take place the day before the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. And it remains to be seen whether or not Trump will follow through.

In a New York Times opinion column published on August 29, journalist Frank Bruni argues that Trump has plenty of reason to be "scared" of debating Harris.

"He should be hesitant," Bruni stresses. "In fact, he should be scared. For all his ludicrous boasting about his past debate performances, many of them have been laughable — some combination of puerile taunting, nonpareil lying, sulking, steaming, glaring and gloating."

The Times columnist adds, "You know those cartoonish dances that football players do when they've breached the end zone in the fourth quarter of a close game? That's Trump at the debate lectern, only he hasn't scored a touchdown. Or even moved the ball so much as a millimeter downfield."

Bruni stresses that given Harris' "debating edge," she has a lot to gain on September 10 — while Trump has a lot to lose.

Harris' vice-presidential debate with Mike Pence in 2020, Bruni notes, demonstrated that she is no lightweight when it comes to debating.

"Now imagine Trump against Harris," Bruni writes. "Imagine his insult and upset over having a lectern no bigger, a standing no taller and an invitation no more gleamingly embossed than a Black woman's. Actually, you don't have to imagine it. His insistence that she's inventing her crowd sizes, that she's not really Black, that he's prettier than she is and that she deposed (President Joe) Biden in some sort of coup — projection, anyone? — tells you all you need to know."

The Times columnist continues, "So does his determined, sustained mispronunciation of her name, the phonetic equivalent of stomping his feet. All of that affirms that Harris rattles him in a particular and powerful way. Which gives her a debating edge over him, assuming she can maintain the discipline and poise that she has demonstrated during her crash-course presidential campaign so far. The more she keeps her cool, the more he'll lose his."

Frank Bruni's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).

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