Democratic strategist James Carville said Monday that Vice President Kamala Harris would win the debate against former President Trump, and said that the former president "made a big mistake."
"I think she’s well-prepared," Carville said. "She’s got really top people preparing her. She’s going to have low expectations because President Biden did so horrible in June. It wasn’t that Trump did great, it was that President Biden didn’t do very well at all. And I have to say this, I could be eating my words on Wednesday, but I think she’s going to do quite well. And I think he made a big mistake by accepting this debate."
Harris and Trump will debate on Tuesday for the first time on ABC News. Linsey Davis and David Muir are set to host the debate.
Carville argued, "I think Trump is walking into a giant trap."
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Carville said in a recent guest essay for the New York Times that Harris "must enable exactly what his campaign is scared to death of: letting Trump be Trump."
"She should let him talk over her," he wrote. "Not just let him but goad him into spouting insane conspiracy theories about the previous election. She should use her sense of humor at key moments to get under his skin and show he’s not getting to her. And she should welcome the personal attacks as a badge of honor."
"And each time, no matter how many times he does it, respond with this refrain: It’s the same old tired playbook, and I’m focused on a new way forward," Carville continued.
He also encouraged the vice president to break with President Biden on key issues.
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"Put out a broad list of ‘new way forward’ policies that detail why she is breaking from the sitting president on the given issues and what change would deliver to the American people," Carville wrote. "And after that rally, do a news conference on it, so media organizations stop cranking their clamshells about a lack of access. Don’t run from your differences with the president. Embrace them, respectfully and honestly."
Carville's third piece of advice for Harris was that she must show a "growth mind-set" and clearly confront her previous policy positions, including on climate change, semiautomatic rifle buyback programs, and health care.
