Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson stated Friday on his podcast that Vice President Kamala Harris asking for a second debate signals that she may be behind within her “internal polls.”
After the first debate between former President Donald Trump and Harris, some political pundits sided with Harris as the winner. However, on “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” Hanson noted that if Harris’ team believed they had won, they wouldn’t “risk it” with a second appearance as the team has requested a second debate.
“Well Trump really ran with that, he said, ‘Yea if you’re looking for a prize fight … the first guy that asks for a rematch knows he lost.’ That’s one interpretation — the other interpretation is that it’s a close race and they think they gained a point and they’ll gain another one. But whatever the interpretation is it tells me that her internal polls do not show that she has a lead,” Hanson said.
“Because if they really do believe she won the debate and if they really do believe she ahead with the momentum then they wouldn’t want to risk it. It’s like winning a hundred dollars at the casino and not wanting to risk it,” Hanson continued.
Hanson noted that while some say Harris won the debate against Trump, he criticized her “content” and argued Trump should refuse participation with certain outlets if a second debate occurs.
“So I think that a they weren’t sure — according to elite taste, which puts a high premium on comportment, behavior and mannerisms, which is a good thing in a way, but not so much content. Then they think she won the debate and they think that maybe that she can do it again. But that also tells me it’s even or she’s behind,” Hanson said.
“I’m not sure Trump should do it and if he does it, he should no way in the world have anybody on that stage from NBC, ABC, CBS, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, PBS — nada,” Hanson continued. “Because they’ll do it again, and they’ll bait him, and bait him, and bait him, and bait him and get him angry.”
Trump has stated he would not be seeking another debate after Harris’ campaign had released a statement calling for another showdown between the two candidates. Prior to Tuesday, Trump had offered to debate Harris on two additional dates which included Sept. 4 hosted by Fox News and Sept. 25 which would be hosted by NBC News.
“She was a no-show at the Fox Debate, and refused to do NBC & CBS. KAMALA SHOULD FOCUS ON WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE DURING THE LAST ALMOST FOUR YEAR PERIOD. THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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