High Stakes Showdown: What to Expect from Trump-Harris First Debate

With fewer than two months until the election, former US President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are preparing to square off in their first presidential debate. On September 10, the 90-minute discussion starts inside Philadelphia’s National Constitutional Center at 9 p.m. ET.

When Trump and Harris, the Republican and Democratic Party candidates, debate on Tuesday, it will be the first time they will share a stage. The two haven’t met.

At Tuesday’s event, Trump was initially supposed to challenge President Joe Biden. However, Biden withdrew from the discussion following the first debate in June due to criticism of his awkward performance and senior age.

Since then, Harris has gained support from the Democratic Party, which has nominated her for president.

Harris, a former prosecutor in courtrooms, has a Republican opponent with 34 felony convictions under his record and a history of making false assertions, so she goes into the race with certain expectations. In a face-to-face confrontation with Trump in front of a global audience on live television, the question is whether Harris, who did not especially stand out during the primary debates in her 2020 presidential campaign, can litigate Trump’s apparent vulnerabilities.

In a prerecorded radio interview made public on Monday, Kamala Harris stated that she anticipates former President Donald Trump “going to lie” at their debate on Tuesday and is preparing for these “untruths.”

The vice president declared on “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show” that there is no bottom to how low he will go. And for that, we ought to be ready. He is not burdened by telling the truth. Therefore, we should be prepared for that.

Citing the “playbook” he employed with former President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Harris added that she thinks the former president will return to personal attacks during the discussion.

Trump and Harris will use the debate to gain pace as the campaign nears its conclusion because Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race has completely changed the dynamics.

Since Harris entered the race on July 21, just seven weeks ago, and took Biden’s spot, she needs more time to introduce herself to people before the vote.

However, she has benefited from the turmoil as the Democrats have witnessed a significant shift in their favour.

Real Clear Politics national polling averages show that in the weeks after Harris entered the race, Democrats went from behind Trump by 3.1 percent to leading by 1.8 points. That’s a gain of almost five points in less than a month.

However, Harris and Trump are still tied, according to Marc Trussler, head of data sciences at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies, despite the striking change.

However, Trump is the ultimate wild card who has achieved remarkable political success by breaking traditional political norms. He’ll say or do whatever he feels is appropriate at the time. Even after many days preparing for the discussion, Harris cannot account for every possibility.

It’s difficult to see Trump shocking anyone with fresh content now. He has declared that Harris only “turned Black” recently, praised autocrats, discussed the size of genitalia, and urged suspending the US Constitution.

Even Trump’s staff is still determining his daily whereabouts and remarks. Trump is taking a huge risk by doing that. However, it also puts a great deal of burden on Harris.