Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff said Monday that one of Vice President Kamala Harris’ biggest challenges in her debate against former President Donald Trump is “knowing the facts too well.”
Harris and Trump are set to square off in their first and only slated presidential debate on ABC News on Tuesday night. Schiff, on “Inside with Jen Psaki,” claimed Harris’ knowledge of “the facts” might hinder her from articulating a “broader vision” during the debate.
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Adam Schiff Says Kamala Harris’ Big Problem For Debate Is She Knows Facts ‘Too Well’ pic.twitter.com/9XZHeMi6ls
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“She will know the facts and be able to marshal the facts in support of her argument. I think the challenge for the vice president is really twofold. One, sometimes knowing the facts too well gets in the way of giving the broader vision, letting people get to know you, seeing the more human side of you,” Schiff said. “You are at risk of coming across with a laundry list of facts and that’s not really what people are looking for.”
“But the other challenge is the bar for her is so much higher because the bar for Trump is so low. He’s going to go and lie, he’s going to go and bluster. He’s going to be Trump being Trump. And because people don’t expect any better of him, they’re not going to expect any better of him,” Schiff continued. “But this is an opportunity for Kamala to show her human side. At the same time, she’s got to hold him accountable for his lies, to show a sense of humor if the questions yield to that. And to put him in his place if he is being obnoxious and that’s a lot to accomplish.”
NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd on Monday said the “biggest risk” for Trump in the debate is whether he is capable of refraining from unleashing “personal” attacks against Harris.
“If he goes after her in the ways he went after [former Democratic nominee] Hillary Clinton … Look, she was a very polarizing figure in 2016, and in some ways, the public, why they did, I don’t know, sort of accepted his harsh attacks on her in a way that I don’t think, if he uses those same techniques on Kamala Harris, I think they’re likely to boomerang badly in his direction,” Todd said.
Harris’ campaign senior spokesperson Adrienne Elrod and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro both warned recently that people should not “underestimate” Trump’s potential debate performance, emphasizing his skill and experience level.
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said on Tuesday that Harris is more likely to experience a significant polling shift than Trump after their debate. The data reporter suggested undecided voters may watch the debate to form their opinion of the vice president while they already have come to conclusions about the former president.
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