Marc Lotter, strategic communications director for former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, believes there is no reason to debate Vice President Kamala Harris now that Trump is winning in the polls, Breitbart reported. Harris has called for a repeat faceoff but will not agree to Trump's terms for the second debate.
Lotter was speaking to Ari Melber on MSNBC's The Beat Thursday when he was asked about Harris' public challenge for another debate with Trump. "Join me on the debate stage," Harris has said on the campaign trail.
"Let’s have another debate. There’s more to talk about, and the voters of America deserve to hear the conversations that I think we should be having," Harris claimed.
Trump has not agreed to that second debate, which Harris has wielded as proof she won the first debate. However, Lotter believes that Trump is correct to avoid another debate with Harris after the last one.
Lotter said that Harris' unwillingness to move to a more friendly network confirms Trump's rationale for denying her challenge. "He was willing to accept a debate on Fox, and the Harris’ team declined that," Lotter said.
"I don’t see a reason why he needs to get back up on stage with her. He’s actually still ahead in this race," Lotter pointed out.
"Kamala Harris is about 5 points back of where Joe Biden was at this time in 2020. And she’s three to four, maybe five points back in all of the key battleground states," Lotter added.
"She’s actually even polling worse than Hillary Clinton was at this point in 2016. So I think if you’re Donald Trump, you look at it, you see, 'I’m in the lead. Why do I want to give her another bite at the apple?'" Lotter said of Trump's thinking.
During the debate on Sept. 10, Harris appeared to have a better showing than Trump. However, it was undoubtedly due to the disparate treatment ABC News gave the vice president.
The debate that aired on the Disney-owned network was an embarrassingly partisan hit job. As the New York Post noted afterward, Trump was fact-checked five times, while Harris faced zero pushback from the moderators.
The vice president lied about Trump's abortion stance, his so-called allegiance to the Project 2025 plan, the fact that there are U.S. service members in combat zones, and many others. She got away with all of it while David Muir and Linsey Davis attacked Trump.
In his remarks from Trump Tower Thursday, the former president pointed out that the network had agreed not to fact-check the candidates during the debate, according to Fox News. "We had a deal where that wouldn't happen," Trump said.
"You could do whatever you wanted as soon as the debate was over, but he did it in total violation of what our agreement was. And a lot of people standing right over there [as he looked toward his staff] will tell you exactly what it was, will show you what it was. David Muir has lost all credibility," Trump said.
If the media were doing its job, Trump would be compelled to debate his policies with his Democratic opponent. Considering how well he's doing in the polls and how poorly he was treated, it's the right move for Trump to decline.
