{"id":2339905,"date":"2024-09-11T17:48:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T21:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-republicans-fear-trump-missed-moment-to-define-harris-at-debate-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-11T17:49:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T21:49:28","slug":"senate-republicans-fear-trump-missed-moment-to-define-harris-at-debate-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-republicans-fear-trump-missed-moment-to-define-harris-at-debate-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Republicans fear Trump missed moment to define Harris at debate- Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-republicans-fear-trump-missed-moment-to-define-harris-at-debate-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2339905&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senate Republicans expressed concern that former President Donald Trump missed key\u200b opportunities to define Vice\u200c President Kamala Harris during a recent debate. Many Republicans felt that Trump should have focused more on substantial issues\u2064 and directly linked Harris to President Biden&#8217;s record, particularly regarding her role in the administration and policies \u2064that have resulted in significant \u2063challenges. Senators noted specific moments where they believed \u200dTrump could have pressed Harris harder, especially on topics like \u200cpublic safety and immigration. Despite this, some Republicans \u2064believed the debate&#8217;s impact on the overall race would not be significant, as both candidates maintained their established bases. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/age-and-economy-top-concerns-of-battleground-state-voters-in-pre-debate-poll-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Age and economy top concerns of battleground state voters in pre-debate poll - Washington Examiner\">pre-debate poll<\/a> indicated that a considerable portion of voters still wanted to learn more about \u2063Harris, suggesting that her presentation\u200b may \u2062have benefitted her image. while Trump\u2019s performance was critiqued for lacking focus, many Republicans concluded that it was not necessarily detrimental in the broader electoral context.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Senate Republicans fear Trump missed opportunity to define Harris at debate<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1758508\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> left Republicans openly grumbling about a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/buttigieg-becomes-the-first-millennial-confirmed-to-a-cabinet-position\/\" title=\"Buttigieg Becomes The First Millennial Confirmed To A Cabinet Position\">missed opportunities<\/a> to define Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Kamala Harris<\/a> at Tuesday night&rsquo;s debate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Harris repeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/columnists\/3151282\/debate-night-trolling-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>goaded Trump<\/a> into veering off-script, while he made Republicans squirm with claims that Haitian migrants were eating neighbors&rsquo; pets in Ohio.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Democrats relished in the performance, suggesting to reporters on Wednesday that he brought the worst version of himself to the debate stage.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s inflammatory, irrational, and irresponsible. He can&rsquo;t control himself. It&rsquo;s just the nature of the man,&rdquo; said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>But Republicans were far more introspective. In a series of interviews with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, senators practiced the lines they wanted Trump to deliver and dissected the times they felt he let Harris off the hook.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who attended the spin room for Trump ahead of the debate, suggested his attacks were not concrete enough. On Afghanistan, he said Trump should have mentioned that Harris was the &ldquo;last person in the room&rdquo; when President Joe Biden decided to withdraw. He also highlighted the &ldquo;tiebreaking&rdquo; Senate votes she cast that he said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-donalds-biden-has-no-idea-how-economy-works\/\" title=\"Rep. Donalds: Biden has no idea how economy works\">caused record-high inflation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s what the conversation should have been about last night because I think that&rsquo;s what the American public is asking,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) wanted a greater focus on public safety. &ldquo;We spent three seconds on that,&rdquo; he quipped.<\/p>\n<p>But the greatest critique was that Trump did not adequately tie Harris to Biden&rsquo;s record. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) called it a &ldquo;powerful moment&rdquo; when Trump said she had 3 1\/2 years to enact the policies she says she will on day one, but others questioned why he waited until his closing statement to make that point.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I was glad he raised it, but it would have been better if it would have come up earlier,&rdquo; said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).<\/p>\n<p>Republicans were particularly keyed in on the first question of the debate, in which Harris skirted around whether voters are better off than they were four years ago. Instead of questioning her answer &mdash; she presented her vision for a Harris term rather than litigating Biden&rsquo;s &mdash; Trump veered off-topic to immigration.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;She got away with that,&rdquo; said Lummis.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said that Trump failed to put Harris on defense on topics ranging from the border to national security.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There were so many instances where I would have had a Reagan-esque, &lsquo;There you go again, Harris. You want to do everything except talk about an agenda that you were partially responsible for implementing and defending,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans insisted the missteps were not fatal. Even if some swing voters liked Harris&rsquo;s performance more, Tillis reasoned, the independent vote is still malleable.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a lot of intensity, a lot of excitement outside of the party base,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), echoing some other Republicans, predicted the state of the race was largely unchanged.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think she hurt herself,&rdquo; he said of Harris. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he hurt her himself either.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But many Republicans felt Trump failed to capitalize on perhaps his highest-profile chance to define Harris, who is an unknown quantity to many voters.<\/p>\n<p>A <em>New York Times<\/em>-Siena College poll ahead of the debate found that 28% &ldquo;needed to learn more&rdquo; about Harris, compared to 9% for Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it helps. She&rsquo;s a newcomer to the scene, relatively,&rdquo; Durbin said of her debate performance on Tuesday. &ldquo;Her explanation of her position on the issues will be helpful.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump could debate Harris once again. On Wednesday, he left the door open to appearing with her on NBC or Fox News. But he&rsquo;s repeatedly signaled in the hours after the debate that he is leaning against it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This combination of photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Republicans are split over whether he should debate Harris a second time, though a chorus of voices have said he should.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But Tillis, who is supportive of a rematch, said Trump needs to do a better job preparing if he is going to move forward.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I would encourage him to do exactly what I had to do,&rdquo; he said of his own Senate debates: &ldquo;Get over the annoyance with the prep and get it done.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1758508\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1758508\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Republicans are expressing concern that former President Donald Trump failed to take advantage of key moments to define Vice President Kamala Harris during the recent debate. Throughout the event, Harris provoked Trump into straying from his prepared remarks, while he unsettled Republicans with controversial statements about Haitian migrants in Ohio. Democrats enjoyed Trump&#8217;s performance, suggesting he showcased his most negative traits on stage. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) described him as &#8220;inflammatory, irrational, and irresponsible,&#8221; indicating a lack of self-control.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, Republicans engaged in self-reflection after the debate. In interviews with the Washington Examiner, they discussed what they wished Trump had said and identified instances where he missed opportunities against Harris. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who was present at Trump&#8217;s pre-debate spin room, criticized him for not making more concrete attacks. He suggested that Trump should have pointed out that Harris was &#8220;the last person in the room&#8221; during Biden&#8217;s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and highlighted her Senate votes contributing to inflation.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) expressed disappointment over the minimal time spent discussing public safety issues during the debate. The most significant criticism was aimed at Trump&#8217;s failure to connect Harris directly to Biden&#8217;s record; Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) noted a missed opportunity when Trump mentioned she had 3\u00bd years to implement her policies but questioned why this point came up only at the end of his remarks.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans were particularly focused on how Harris dodged a question about whether voters are better off than four years ago without being challenged by Trump on her response\u2014she instead outlined her vision for a potential term as president rather than addressing Biden\u2019s record directly.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) remarked that Trump did not effectively put Harris on defense regarding critical issues like border security and national safety. He suggested that he would have adopted a more confrontational approach reminiscent of Ronald Reagan&#8217;s style.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these critiques, Republicans believe these missteps won&#8217;t be detrimental overall; even if some swing voters preferred Harris\u2019s performance, Tillis argued that independent voter sentiment remains fluid. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) echoed this sentiment by stating neither candidate significantly harmed their standing with voters.<\/p>\n<p>Many within the GOP felt that Trump squandered an important chance to clarify who Harris is since many voters still view her as relatively unknown\u201428% indicated they needed more information about her compared to just 9% for Trump according to a New York Times-Siena College poll conducted before the debate.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has left open the possibility of debating Harris again but has shown reluctance in recent hours following their initial encounter. While opinions among Republicans vary regarding another debate appearance for him against her\u2014with some advocating for it\u2014Tillis emphasized that if it happens again, preparation will be crucial: \u201cGet over any annoyance with prep work and get it done,\u201d he advised based on his own experiences preparing for Senate debates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2651,"featured_media":2339906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/trump-debate-harris-senate-republicans-define-1024x592.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[3896,32438,35272,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2339905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-debate","tag-kamala-harris","tag-senate-republicans","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/trump-debate-harris-senate-republicans-define-1024x592.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2651"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}