The pressure is on former President Trump to debate Vice President Harris again now that she has accepted a CNN invite for an October match-up, with Republicans encouraging him to go up against her a second time.
Republicans argue that Trump can have a better, more disciplined performance a second time around after Harris was widely seen by voters as the winner of the debate ABC hosted earlier in September. Strategists say the former president has nothing to lose by partaking in another debate, particularly after Harris’s performance did little to move the needle in a race largely seen as a dead heat.
“We’re in a very tight race. I like where President Trump stands,” said Steve Cortes, a former adviser to Trump. “However, I think any of us who do polling, who read polling carefully realize that this race is super, super tight and in that environment, I don’t think we should skip an opportunity to speak in front of a super large audience of Americans.”
Harris on Saturday accepted CNN’s invite for a debate on Oct. 23, after her campaign called for a second debate. Trump, however, said he believes it’s “too late” to have another debate.
“She’s done one debate. I’ve done two. It’s too late to do another. I’d love to, in many ways, but it’s too late. The voting is cast,” Trump said in North Carolina, referring to his first debate against President Biden on June 27, which predicated Biden dropping out of the race.
Trump’s GOP allies argue a second debate against Harris presents an opportunity for the former president to improve on his first debate performance by staying focused on policy.
“Don’t take the bait and focus on policy,” said Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor, who said he wants to see Trump take part in a second debate.
“If he focuses on policy, he wins,” he added.
But staying on policy isn’t always Trump’s strong suit. Republicans have taken particular issue with Trump’s move during the debate with Harris to elevate baseless claims about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
“I would say that I’m not sure what group of persuadable voters are motivated by that issue,” Eberhart said, referring to the false claims about migrants in the community.
Cortes said he could see both sides to Trump’s strategy on immigration.
“Being unafraid of touching supposedly third rail topics is part of his strength,” Cortes said. “But at the same time, we need to make sure we don’t major in the minors. Let’s focus on the most important aspect of illegal migration, which is that the whole country is being overrun by illegal migrants and that is particularly painful for small towns who don’t have the capacity, the budget, the infrastructure to deal with it.”
When asked about Republicans calling on him to debate a second time, the Trump campaign pointed to a Truth Social post from the former president in which he said he won the first debate.
“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump wrote.
“She was a no-show at the Fox Debate, and refused to do NBC & CBS,” he said.
“Kamala should focus on what she should have done during the last almost four year period. There will be no third debate!”
Harris, meanwhile, has increased the pressure on Trump to accept the CNN invite. The vice president told donors at a New York City fundraiser Trump “seems to be looking for an excuse to avoid” another match-up and said they owe it to the voters to agree to debate.
“Join me on the debate stage. There’s more to talk about. Voters of America deserve to hear … what’s your plan, what’s my plan,” Harris said, referring to Trump.
Despite Harris’s debate performance being hailed by voters, her slight lead over Trump nationally and in swing states grew by less than 1 percentage point and, in some states, Trump’s lead grew slightly.
Harris holds a 3.6 percentage point lead over Trump nationally, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling aggregate, a lead that has grown slightly since the day before the debate, when she had a 3.2 percentage point lead.
Republicans who claim the moderators in the ABC debate this month were unfair to Trump compared to their treatment of Harris, think Trump is right to decline a second debate against her.
“The last debate was the worst moderated debate in presidential history, and frankly there is no guarantee it’s going to get any better,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “He’s not going to get a fair debate.”
O’Connell also questioned the point of doing a third debate, given that early voting has kicked off in a number of states.
“What benefit do you actually get out of it at this juncture?” O’Connell said. “The only way that he has a debate is if he has what he perceives as fair moderators or a fair set up.”
GOP strategist Matt Gorman, a former senior adviser to Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) presidential campaign, argued that Harris should have to do more media interviews, rather than another debate against Trump.
“The debate about debates has become tiresome. Not giving Harris a debate deprives her of the proverbial oxygen she needs. She’d rather be in a debate, prepped with memorized answers, than forced to take [one-on-one] reporter questions,” he said.
Meanwhile, other Republicans think Trump participating in another debate is too risky for him, pointing to his lack of discipline in the first debate against Harris.
“It’s not clear debates have ever helped Trump, other than when Biden beat himself,” said Bruce Mehlman, a former official under former President George W. Bush. “Unless Trump could ensure more aggressive moderators or prepare harder and executive a disciplined strategy, a second debate is as likely to harm as help his campaign.”
