EJ Haust, a digital marketing expert and former journalist who lived in Minnesota for 12 years before relocating to Tennessee four years ago, discussed what she expects from tonight’s presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris which will begin at 9:00 EST.
The debate, hosted by ABC News, will be broadcasted live from Philadelphia. There will be no live audience, Trump and Harris’ microphones will be muted when it’s not their turn to speak, and they will not be allowed to have pre-written notes.
Harris has been hunkered down in Pittsburgh over the weekend to prepare for tonight’s debate while Trump has reportedly been preparing for tonight with Florida U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) and former Democratic U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard.
Haust said she expects tonight to be the only debate between Trump and Harris.
“If [Harris] wins, she comes off as presidential. If she does really well – by answering policy questions with ease – then she will not want to risk damaging herself with another debate. If, however, she doesn’t do well and Trump comes off as the so-called winner, I can’t imagine she’d put herself in that position again,” Haust said on Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“We also have the vice presidential debate, and I think she’ll expect Walz to play cleanup for her,” Haust added.
When it comes to Harris’ performance during tonight’s debate, Haust said she expects the vice president to be “calm, measured, and prepared” at the beginning of the night before potentially “falling apart.”
“She’s going to smile a lot…I think she will tamp down the cackling for sure. Everybody’s told her to do that. I don’t think she’ll make that mistake. I do think she’ll come out swinging with probably a couple of little jabs right off the bat, calmly though and measured and prepared, but I do think there’s a possibility that she falls apart a little bit. I just don’t know if it’s going to be enough to sink her,” Haust explained.
Haust also said she expects Harris to brand Trump as a convicted felon “pretty early on” in the debate, however, added that she believes Trump will “have an answer” for being called a convicted felon.
In regards to the effect the debate will have on voters, Haust said she believes the majority of people who will watch tonight’s debate will be voters who have already decided who they will be voting for on November 5.
“I think most people who’ve made a decision on who they’re going to vote for are the people who are watching this debate, and then I think the people who haven’t made a decision yet or aren’t really in either camp will probably miss it,” Haust said.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
I think everyone knows who they are going to vote for already, but if one candidate or the other completely falls flat tonight or in the next 60 days, I can see that candidates voters just staying home. There aren’t many undecideds left, but there are plenty of “unmotivateds”.