The debate about the debate is over. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will share a stage for the first time in Philadelphia next week, in the must-win swing state of Pennsylvania. They’ll have their mics muted when they’re not talking—as the former president’s campaign had preferred, evidently out of concern he might get goaded into an outburst otherwise. But within hours of the campaigns agreeing to ABC News’ debate rules, Trump was nevertheless carping on about how unfair Tuesday’s bout would be against him.
“They are the most dishonest network,” Trump said of ABC News, in a taped sit-down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity Wednesday, baselessly suggesting that Harris would be provided questions in advance and mocking anchor George Stephanopoulos with one of his pet names—“George Slopadopoulos”—to the delight of his audience. “They’re very nasty. I think a lot of people are going to be watching to see how nasty they are.”
The debate—which will be moderated not by Stephanopoulos but by David Muir and Linsey Davis—carries extremely high stakes: Trump expanded his polling lead following the first debate this cycle, after Joe Biden’s weak performance turbocharged concerns about his age and acuity. But the race flipped after Harris took over the Democratic ticket, and the upcoming debate presents her with an opportunity to continue her momentum. Speaking to Hannity, Trump once again attacked her intelligence—“She has no idea what the hell she’s doing,” he claimed—but insisted that the network is biased in her favor. “ABC is the worst network in terms of fairness,” Trump said.
Trump—as he did in June and plenty of times before—is seeking to lower expectations for himself, to make it easier to dismiss a bad performance as the result of the whole thing being rigged against him. You may recall this strategy from 2020, when he attempted to sow doubt in the election process ahead of his eventual loss to Biden—and sought to undermine the results afterward rather than admit defeat. It’s the same blueprint he’s using now, as he lays the foundation to challenge the results of this fall’s election.
“The elections are dishonest as hell,” he’s told his supporters.
This is, in part, about one chronically insecure man’s efforts to save face at all costs. But it is also part of his broader project of eroding faith in the election process and democratic institutions, which he once again displayed contempt for Wednesday night as he once again lavished praise on the illiberal Hungarian leader Viktor Orban. “Sometimes,” he told Hannity, “you need a strongman.”
