If former President Donald Trump wants to win tonight’s debate, he needs not to discuss his theory that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election. Both candidates are known entities, so they do not need to compete for the spotlight. Rather, whoever has more attention focused on them during this debate will likely suffer as their flaws are emphasized on national television.
Trump is currently in a strong position in the election. According to the Washington Post’s polling averages, he is leading in five of seven battleground states. If the polls are as incorrect as they were in 2020, he would win all seven of the battleground states polled. Recent polling also showed that more voters trust Trump to handle threats to democracy than Biden.
This current positive electoral trend for Trump exists because national political attention is focused on Biden. This attention has highlighted the failures of the Biden administration. For example, 65% of people rated the Trump economy as good in March, as opposed to only 38% under Biden. Other concerns, such as global instability and the rapid rise in illegal immigration, have not helped Biden on the campaign trail.
If attention shifts back to Trump, these flaws may be forgotten by swing voters. Voters dislike his claims about the 2020 presidential election. According to the poll, 62% of people said Biden legitimately won enough votes for victory in 2020. This is high, especially when only 57% of respondents in 2017 said Trump was legitimately elected.
The Biden campaign is aware of this. Biden’s advisers have planned for him to provoke Trump. The Democratic National Committee sponsored billboards around Atlanta, the debate’s location, mocking Trump’s conviction. Due to Trump’s large ego that values winning above all else, attacks by Biden that mock him as a loser may be effective. This, combined with hostile moderators, places Trump in a minefield of distractions that could damage his debate performance.
Trump and his team seem to be aware of this matter and are planning accordingly. Trump is likely planning to act more reservedly. This is a good idea. Trump should still be prepared to launch jabs and challenge the debate’s rules, but these moves must be made in moderation. He also has to be ready to answer a challenge to his 2020 stolen election theory that does not devolve into a rant.
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One wise move would be to pivot off the position. Trump can make his stance clear but then acknowledge some voters might disagree. Then he could attack the overreaches of Biden’s Department of Justice or another matter that challenges Biden’s claim to respect the rule of law.
What turns voters off from Trump is when he devolves into discussing grievance concerns. The most prominent of these matters is the 2020 election. Instead, keeping the focus on Biden’s flaws as a president would help Trump’s campaign. With the next debate months away, tonight’s showdown has the chance to establish election narratives that will be hard to challenge.