Political commentator Chris Cillizza said Friday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that the presidential debate is high stakes because it will define Vice President Kamala Harris for voters.
Cillizza said, “This will be Donald Trump’s seventh general election presidential debate. Which I do think look, you know this, the first day you anchored you were probably more nervous than you were today. You get better at these things. You build the muscle. We know what we will get with Trump. He has one gear, he has one setting, whether it’s delivering a press conference today or in the debate.”
He continued, “I think it’s more interesting to see how Kamala Harris reacts. She has done this before. She’s been in a VP debate. She’s never been on this stage. Only one debate currently on the schedule. We don’t know if there will be more. So the stakes with high. Remember she’s the most unknown, known person in the country. Most people know she’s Vice President of the United States. Ask them to tell you one or two other things about her, particularly among swing voters in swing states, they might struggle a little bit.”
Cillizza added, “The last two months are a battle to define her. Donald Trump is defined, people don’t like him. That doesn’t mean they won’t vote for him but they don’t like him. People don’t know necessarily know how they feel about her. I think this debate is really critical. Is it Donald Trump’s definition of Kamala Harris that people glom on to or is it Kamala Harris’ definition of Kamala Harris? Obviously it a huge difference between winning and losing.”
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