Sources say campaign is concerned that Trump may engage in the kind of self-sabotage that turned off voters in 2020

Donald Trumpā€™s campaign is most concerned going into the debate against Kamala Harris with the former presidentā€™s mood, afraid that the mercurial Trump could engage in the kind of self-sabotage that turned off voters in the 2020 presidential election, according to people familiar with the situation.

The campaignā€™s internal refrain is whether they get ā€œhappy Trumpā€ or ā€œangry Trumpā€, the people said, as they count down the days to perhaps the final presidential debate this cycle.

Tuesday nightā€™s televised debate is widely seen as a crux moment in the rebooted 2024 campaign. Since Joe Biden dropped out of the race after a campaign-killing debate performance crystalized fears over his age and mental acuity, Harris has turned the race on its head.

  • N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 months ago

    I think Trump is going to snort enough of whatever he snorts that he shows up energized. What he says will be rambling nonsense, as it always is, but heā€™ll say it confidently. The story on the Trump side will be that he exceeded expectations, and that heā€™s going to gain momentum again.

    Harris is more of an X factor, but the buildup to the debate (felon vs. prosecutor) means that she has to win decisively in the eyes of both the left and the middle just to meet expectations. I hope she somehow exceeds them or has a few moments that steal the show, but itā€™s more likely that Trump being able to speak semi-coherently will be the top story regardless of anything Harris does.

    I hope Iā€™m wrong.

    • krashmo@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Iā€™ve been wondering the same thing for a long time now. People seem so excited to see Harris ā€œbeatā€ Trump in a debate but itā€™s obvious that will never happen in any meaningful sense. Trumpā€™s supporters are clearly not using any traditional (or rational) metric to evaluate his public speaking and people who donā€™t support Trump will only find things to nitpick Harris on. I donā€™t see the upside for Harris unless she knocks it out of the park and thatā€™s such a stupid situation to be in considering the obvious disparity in the quality of these two candidates.

      • timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        Yep. Im more worried than excited. I see very little opportunity that trump takes a hit and a lot of chances for Harris to falter. Of course thatā€™s double standards considering trump is most likely dementia addled, drugged up, and has no expectation of coherence but thatā€™s apparently just OK now to a disgustingly large amount of people.