Harris’s ‘big strategy’ for debate is to point to Trump’s legal troubles: Byron York – Washington Examiner

Asher NotheisSeptember 10, 2024

In a recent commentary, Byron ⁣York discusses Vice‌ President Kamala Harris’s strategy for an⁤ upcoming debate, which is anticipated to focus on former President Donald Trump’s legal issues. York suggests that ⁣Harris may adopt a “prosecutor mode,” aiming to provoke ⁢Trump by referencing his felony convictions, particularly‍ the recent guilty verdict concerning business record falsification. ‍He ⁢contrasts this ‌with the previous approach taken by President Joe Biden, which attempted to frame Trump as a threat to democracy. Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic ⁣candidate, initially abandoned‍ this ⁣strategy but may revert to it in the debate.

York notes that Harris’s‍ campaign sought to ⁤alter the debate’s muted microphone policy, emphasizing her desire‌ to aggressively challenge Trump. However, after‍ agreeing to the rules of the debate, she will be limited to answering questions rather than directly interrogating Trump. Meanwhile, concerns are ⁣raised about whether this prosecutorial strategy will be effective given ‌the debate’s format. As the debate approaches, there are speculations about how Harris’s performance will shape her campaign in relation to Trump and his ‍current legal troubles.

Harris’s ‘big strategy’ for debate is to point to Trump’s legal troubles: Byron York

Byron York predicted that Vice President Kamala Harris’s plan for Tuesday night’s debate is to reference former President Donald Trump’s legal battles, part of a larger plan to get under Trump’s skin.

York, the Washington Examiner’s chief political correspondent, explained how President Joe Biden’s campaign had attempted to portray the former president as a threat to democracy, which did not convince many voters prior to Biden dropping out. When Harris took Biden’s place as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in July, York noted she basically dropped this strategy “immediately in favor of the vibes campaign.”

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“So will she bring it back? I don’t know,” York said on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle. “I think it’s much more likely that in prosecutor mode, she will bring up Trump’s legal problems, the prosecutions, the guilty verdict that he got in New York, and see if she can get under his skin. I think when you talk about her getting under his skin or trying to, I think that’s really her big strategy.”

Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records back in May, though his criminal sentencing for these counts has since been delayed twice. The most recent delay last week pushed Trump’s sentencing to Nov. 26, three weeks after the presidential election.

York also stated that a strategy Harris was likely to use during the debate was to act like a “tough prosecutor” against Trump, and this was why her campaign was seeking to change the debate’s muted microphone policy ahead of Tuesday night. The Harris campaign has since agreed to keeping the muted microphones, and candidates will only have their microphones on when it is their turn to speak.

The Washington Examiner’s Kaylee McGhee White has similarly predicted that Harris will refer to Trump as a “convicted felon” in this debate but that a strategy of running as a prosecutor would not work in this debate due to the muted microphones. As such, White said that Harris will be put in the same spotlight as Trump, and the vice president will have to answer policy questions herself rather than questioning the former president.

The debate is being hosted by ABC News and moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis. There will only be two commercial breaks throughout the entire 90-minute debate, which is set to begin at 9 p.m. ET.

On Sunday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) contended that the stakes are higher for Harris in this debate, referencing how the vice president has largely avoided the press and detailing her policies. Ahead of Tuesday night, Harris has only done one interview as the presidential nominee, which was done late last month with her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN).