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A Republican pollster believes that the upcoming debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will be "everything" when it comes to setting the stage for the 2024 US presidential election in November.
Frank Luntz appeared on CNN, where he was asked what the presidential candidates had left to do in the final stretch between now and the election.
“The debate is everything,” Luntz said.
CNN anchor John Berman then asked him to elaborate.
“Everything,” Luntz repeated. “When the voter sees side by side the two candidates and they listen to what they say, not just the answers, it’s the body language. Is there contempt? Does someone fold their arms? Do they look at the individual when they’re speaking? Do they seem presidential in their approach?”
The upcoming debate has been scheduled for September 10 in Philadelphia.
There has been some recent controversy over the debate's rules, as the Trump and Harris campaigns disagreed over microphones. Harris's campaign wants the microphones to remain live throughout the debate, which is a departure from previous debate rules.
The Associated Press obtained the debate rules from a senior Trump official, which reportedly said there would be no live audience, no written notes and that the mics would be muted when the other candidate is speaking.
The Harris campaign told the AP that they are still discussing the mic issue with ABC.
“It’s interesting that Trump’s handlers keep insisting on muting him, despite the candidate himself saying the opposite,” Harris spokesman Ian Sams told the AP. “Why won’t they just do what the candidate wants?”
If the mics are live, Trump will have the opportunity to interrupt Harris and potentially derail the debate, a point Luntz highlighted during his CNN segment.
“For Trump, can he keep quiet? Can he actually listen to a response, or does he have to respond to everything,” Luntz said. “For Harris, does she seem open-minded? Does she seem willing to take in information not just project?”
Trump recently said he didn't care if the mics were muted, and went on to talk about his disdain for ABC News.
“Each of them has different goals for that debate, but each one, in the end, has to prove that they’re ready, not just for that moment, but voters are thinking ‘who do I want to represent me two years from now, three or four years from now?” Luntz continued.
As for Harris, Luntz said the vice president would have to show the public that she has improved since her 2020 Democratic primary debate - where she was panned.
“She has to prove she has the capability to do it and Trump has to prove that he doesn’t treat her rudely, obnoxiously, because he lost a lot of female voters in 2020 who would have voted for him over policy but would not vote for him because of his persona,” Luntz said.
