Sources close to Donald Trump are saying he’s reportedly “struggling” amid the 2024 presidential race against his new opponent Kamala Harris . CNN’s Kaitlan Collins told political pundit Bill Maher that the VP is giving a tough time to the ex-president who, as some insiders claim, is “nervous” to debate Democratic nominee Harris ahead of November.
On Friday, August 23, 2024, Collins was a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher along with fellow panelists like Democratic strategist James Carville and GOP Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX). They discussed the prospect of another debate between Trump and Harris scheduled for September 10, 2024, per Mediaite.
You scared @realdonaldtrump ? 🐔 pic.twitter.com/CMarCdeVJG
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 26, 2024
Carville introduced the topic, “I think the debate on September 10th is going to be so consequential because what does America love? A train wreck. And they had one on June 27 and they want another train wreck.” To this Maher doubted if Trump would be able “to pull out” the showdown with Harris.
“I think Trump is nervous about it,” Collins stated. “I think Trump– I talk to a lot of sources in his world. I think he has really struggled with it. It’s not just a narrative or a talking point from Democrats. He really has struggled with how to combat her. And I think going into that debate, he does not really want to do it. His campaign manager had cards printed that said ‘anywhere, time, any place’ for President Biden. And it would look weak” but “I don’t think he’s looking forward to it at this point.”
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
The Republican nominee, who emerged as a victor after his failed assassination attempt, seems to have lost the media attention to Harris. The former prosecutor was endorsed by POTUS Joe Biden after he abandoned his re-election bid. Since then, her growing popularity has become a cause of concern for Trump, unlike Biden whom he deemed as a weak candidate.
On Truth Social, Trump is laying the pretext to bail on the Sept 10th Debate. He’s clearly worried abt losing to Kamala – a more formidable opponent than Biden. I’m bullish he won’t ultimately cancel tho- he needs a big moment more than she does right now
— Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) August 26, 2024
But now the tables have turned. Alyssa Farah Griffin , former White House communications director, opined Trump hasn’t faced a strong candidate like Harris and now he’s met with his right match while speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper , “Donald Trump’s never run against a campaign like this. In fact, his team was always the one that was a lot quicker on social media. They would kind of play into the meme wars and have fast responses. And he’s kind of met his match in this.”
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She further highlighted that Trump is not a first-time candidate like in 2016 and now has a “record” to answer, including some of his weakest points like the Jan.6 Capitol riots, “In 2016 he went against a very formidable foe with [former Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton, and he performed well in those debates and obviously won. But this is different,” per Newsweek.
“There are things he’s going to have to answer for in this debate that are so fundamentally different than 2016 when he had no record, and he can kind of just give a vision and an idea of what he wanted,” Griffin weighed in. “And I think he’s afraid of that.”