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Former U.S. President Donald Trump is campaigning together with Senator JD Vance, who is running for Vice President, in Grand Rapids, Michigan on the 20th local time. (Reuters Union News)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, said he would propose holding a debate with Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate who is practically confirmed as the party’s presidential candidate.
On the 23rd local time, former President Trump said in a phone briefing with reporters, “I would like to debate with her (Harris) at least once,” and added, “I believe there is an obligation to debate whether it’s a Democratic or Republican candidate.”
He stated, “I have not agreed to a debate (with Harris). I agreed to debate with President Joe Biden,” and emphasized, “I want to debate with Harris. Their policies are the same, so Harris won’t be different from Biden.”
In the context of President Biden’s defeat in the first presidential TV debate last month, leading to a potential change in presidential candidates, Trump’s confidence in Harris, who is a likely new debate opponent, is perceived positively.
However, Trump insisted that instead of ABC, which was supposed to host the second debate with President Biden in September, the conservative Fox News should host the debate.
The New York Times reported that former President Trump focused on criticizing Vice President Harris’s response to border issues, especially suggesting that on immigration policies, Harris is more left-leaning than Biden. This strategy aligns with the Republican emphasis on portraying Harris as more ‘radical’ than Biden and as sharing responsibility for the failures of the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, the Republican leadership in the House instructed its members to refrain from attacking Vice President Harris based on her race or gender, according to Politico. Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), reportedly warned in a closed meeting on that day to focus on criticizing Harris’s policies and not to attack her based on race or gender.
Recently, it is analyzed that attacking Vice President Harris, an Asian-American and Black woman, by stating that she was hired based on “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles” could backfire and provoke backlash from moderate voters. The harsh rhetoric targeting women and minority groups by former President Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections is considered to have caused resentment among suburban women, colored races, and young people, including swing voters.【End of Description】