Frank Luntz Previews All-Important Debate By Slamming Trump’s Obnoxious ‘Persona’: No ‘Ability’ to Communicate Clearly
Pollster and political communications expert Frank Luntz previewed the upcoming debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris by slamming the Trump’s “persona” and ability to communicate clearly on CNN Monday.
Anchor John Berman elicited Luntz’s analysis by asking him “What is left to do” in the 64 days left before voters go to the polls.
“Oh it’s- the debate is everything. Everything. When the voters see side-by-side the two candidates and they listen to what they say, not just in the answers, it’s the body language,” replied Luntz without hesitation. “Is there contempt? Does someone fold their arms? Do they look at the individual when they’re speaking? Do they seem presidential in their approach? For Trump: Can he keep quiet? Can he actually listen to a response or does he have to respond to everything? For Harris: Does she seem openminded? Does he seem willing to take in information, not just project? Each one of them has different goals for that debate, but each one, in the end, has to prove that they’re ready, not just for that moment, but voters are thinking, ‘Who do I want to represent me two years from now, 3 or 4 years from now?'”
“That’s why [Joe] Biden had to step aside when he did. And that’s the challenge for Harris right now. You know, she did not do well in her presidential debates. She did not shine. And now she has to prove she has the capability to do it,” he continued. “And Trump has to prove that he doesn’t treat her rudely, obnoxiously, because he lost a lot of female voters in 2020 who would have voted for him over policy, but would not vote for him because of his persona.”
“You know, one of the things I’ve never understood about Donald Trump is they really push this notion, ‘Oh, he doesn’t do debate prep. He doesn’t do-,’ He does debate prep. We know he does debate prep. He may not do formal mock debates in a room. Or maybe he does and we just don’t know,” observed Berman. “But why do you think it’s so important for him to project this image of ‘I don’t care that much?'”
“Because in 2020, he was told by Governor Chris Christie, ‘Chill out. You don’t have to go for the jugular. Let President Biden speak, at the time Vice President Biden, and he’ll hurt himself.’ And Trump couldn’t do it, he couldn’t lay off. He just had to go,” answered Luntz. “And if I was advising the campaign right now, which I do not, I’d say to him that silence in some cases is the best language. That’s silence, because he has questions that he can ask that she can’t answer. Why did inflation get so high under your administration? What exactly are you going to do if your policies caused it? What can you do to solve it? And most importantly, are you better off today than you were four years ago? It’s not my question, that was Ronald Reagan’s question. If he asked that question plainly, he will be successful. I don’t believe he has the ability to do so.”
Watch above via CNN.
