Former U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City, U.S. May 30, 2024 and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, U.S., July 22, 2024 in a combination of file photos.
Reuters
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is bracing for her Republican rival Donald Trump to mislead and misinform in their first face-to-face debate, she said in an interview that aired Monday.
“I think he’s gonna lie,” the vice president said on “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show.”
Trump “plays from this really old and tired playbook right?” Harris said in the interview, which was taped last Wednesday. “There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go, and we should be prepared for that.”
Smiley had asked Harris how she is preparing to handle Trump’s “attacks” and “temperament” during the debate hosted by ABC News, which is set for Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET.
“We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth, and we should be prepared for the fact that he is probably going to speak a lot of untruth,” she replied.
Harris’ remarks to Smiley followed a New Hampshire campaign rally, where she focused on her policies to help small businesses. She told Smiley she plans to point out how Trump “tends to fight for himself, not for the American people.”
“I think that’s going to come out during the debate,” Harris said.
“I expect that he’s gonna, you know, I think he’s gonna lie.”
“He has a playbook that he has used in the past, be it, you know, his attacks on President [Barack] Obama or [former Democratic nominee] Hillary Clinton,” she added. “So we should expect some of that might come out.”
The 90-minute debate Tuesday night will be the first, and possibly only, time that Trump and Harris square off in person before the Nov. 5 election.
It presents a crucial second chance for the Democratic ticket. A previous presidential debate in late June between Trump and President Joe Biden went so poorly for the incumbent that he dropped out of the race weeks later and endorsed Harris as his replacement.
Harris in a matter of weeks has appeared to close the polling gap that Trump held over Biden. But a poll from The New York Times and Siena College released Sunday showed Trump and Harris in a neck-and-neck race, with voters saying they needed to know more about the new Democratic nominee.