The following is a guest column I wrote for New York Post on August 31, 2024. The column was not published as it was unsolicited – it was a longshot from the start. Nevertheless, it is important enough that I wish to draw everyone’s attention to it, especially the Trump campaign.
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The world is looking forward to the September 10 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. After Joe Biden had decided to pass the torch to his VP, following a failed assassination attempt on the former president, many are wondering how the freshly anointed Democratic nominee will fare in a live, direct confrontation. Some predict a crushing follow-up to the Joe Biden debate that took place on June 28, others believe the future first female president will outshine her opponent and usher in a new era of Joy.
Yet things are never quite as they seem.
The Lost Debate
Let us first underscore the significance of the Trump-Biden debate. Despite the consistent and unwavering messaging coming from Donald Trump himself, he is the one who walked into a trap and was gravely wounded as a result. Do not lose sight of the fact that it was the Biden camp who chose to pick up the glove that Donald Trump had been throwing relentlessly for months. They are the ones who set such an early date. Bluntly speaking, President Trump’s participation in the debate greenlit an early twilight for President Biden. Between June and August, the fallout was not only contained, but transformed into Joy. If that debate had not happened, the Democrats would have been stuck with Joe Biden perhaps even until late September. From this point of view, you could say that the post-debate backroom chaos in the Democratic camp that was sold to the masses was, in many ways, kabuki theatre.
If you want to get a good feel for what is truly going on in the US, look to the Polish media-political scene. Unlike the American media who from time to time floated the idea that maybe Joe Biden is getting on in years or sometimes makes bizarre, factually contradictory comments, the Polish media simply overlooked everything. Recall the publication of the Robert Hur report and Joe Biden’s brief press conference on February 9, a mere few hours after Tucker Carlson had published his controversial interview with Vladimir Putin. The American media challenged, however feebly, Joe Biden’s mental acuity. CNN’s Jake Tapper even invited a White House representative to respond to President Biden’s strange remarks about meeting with François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl to discuss the events of January 6. The Polish media obscured it all, focusing all their energy on mocking Carlson for not correcting Putin on various historical claims. For those interested in the details, you can read my article on this in Polish here. Run it through Google Translate to get the gist of it. (Did you know our Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrzej Szejna called Joe Biden „a gift from the Heavens”? True story.)
It is all the more telling that after the debate, the Polish media finally expressed their first bit of doubt about Joe Biden’s potential to win the election. Therefore, to say the debate was used as a way to set a narrative in motion is to understate the reality of what had transpired.
The True Foe
The bluster of Kamala Harris’ sudden ascension is merely smoke and mirrors. That is not in question to any astute observer. Harris is the weakest candidate the Democratic Party could have possibly fielded, and this is saying something in a world where Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden had made a run for the White House.
Why, then, would the debate pose any challenge to Donald Trump? If anything, the former president should feel elated by the opportunity to demolish the last vestiges of the Biden presidency, one of the most catastrophic terms in US history. The debate almost sounds like a victory run. Harris’ track record is so weak that participating even in a single debate is taking a campaign-ending risk, if the recent Harris-Walz interview with CNN’s Dana Bash is anything to go by.
The trap lies in misunderstanding the true opponent. Donald Trump will be debating not Kamala Harris, but the media narrative that has built up around him over the years. Harris will come prepared, possibly knowing the questions in advance, and she will go through the script unwaveringly – this will include the numerous jabs against Trump that she has made during her carefully curate public appearances, including her nomination speech. If the former president fails to capitalize on the opportunity to not just debunk, but shatter the key claims against him, the debate will effectively be a dud.
It will also further a looming election narrative. Notice how over the past few months there has been a peculiar insistence on claiming that Donald Trump will most likely refuse to accept the results of the upcoming election. The outcry goes as far as suggesting that Trump could even launch a second Civil War just to avoid going to jail. That is to say, the media are strongly suggesting Trump is becoming increasingly desperate to avoid an undesirable outcome. He might even resort to cheating.
Notice what is happening in Georgia. The State Election Board has been in the limelight for trying to investigate the claims made in the SEB2023-025 complaint, and also for pushing two rules: one that would force each precinct to reconcile the number of ballots cast with the number of voters, and the other which would provide members of the Board of Registrations and Elections with the opportunity to make a “reasonable inquiry” before voting to certify. The Democrats have gone so far as to file a lawsuit stating that the phrase “reasonable inquiry” is vague and suggesting that this rule change will introduce chaos this close to the election. Perhaps this confusion stems from the fact that the word “reasonable” is unknown to the Democrats at large. Besides, they themselves do not attempt to provide a solution or a better wording. They just do not want anyone to check anything at the precinct level because the machine never gets anything wrong. And if it does, slow walk any investigation for years, claim the numbers are “dead-on accurate” and then pretend information to the contrary simply does not exist.
Make no mistake – this election is, above all else, a contest of narratives. On its own, truth matters very little when faced with a concerted media onslaught. Only proper deployment of reality-shattering observations has any hope of overcoming this mountain of deception, a feat that Donald Trump had once achieved with his table-turning counter: „Yeah, because you’d be in jail.”
Whether Kamala Harris wins or loses the debate is of no consequence. Set your sights higher.
Advice Corner
There are a few things the former president should take into consideration. These pieces of advice will be somewhat vague to avoid compromising the value of specific lines of attack. Even so, the astute observers will most likely understand what is being implied here:
– Do not give the same answers. On certain contested issues that the media loves to bring up at every opportunity, the former president has given more or less the same response. Avoid this at all costs. Too much has been uncovered over the past few years to still be relying on the same tired lines. Consult with those knowledgeable about a given topic, they will give you plenty of pointers.
– Hit ‘em where it hurts. All those narratives have certain specific weak points that put the respondent in a logic chokehold, i.e. there is no way to answer the question without compromising oneself. No matter how brainwashed a person might be, they will notice their preferred candidate has just clammed up on an extremely simply answer.
– Establish foundation. Before a logic chokehold can take effect, certain incontrovertible facts need to be established. It is true that there is no time during the debate for courtroom discourse. However, the media narratives are so strained, you need only introduce one or two facts. Have the respondent agree to something that they cannot take back later.
– Be brief. It is no secret that the former president has a tendency to engage in excessive verbiage, to put it delicately. Sometimes it is a useful tactic, but for those key attacks, you need to get your point across before your opponent even starts reeling from the lightning-fast jab.
– Do not focus too much on policy. The debate will have worldwide reach. It will, perhaps, be the last opportunity in your life to overcome the global media filter. Concentrating solely on your various policy proposals that you have been presenting during your numerous rallies, interviews and special messages will be a massive mistake. People can always look all of that up later.
– Saturate. Ideally, you want your every response to be a bombing run. Make it so the media cannot possibly quote you without exposing something they have been desperately trying to cover up. Research how the Polish media portrayed the Trump-Biden debate, it will give you plenty of food for thought.
– Do not get dragged into a rhetorical black hole. The opponent will deploy various drive-by remarks in an attempt to waste your time and energy. In such a situation, either launch an artillery strike with deadly precision or promptly disengage.
– Avoid being tone-deaf. This last piece of advice will hurt because it will include a specific example. Recall the Megyn Kelly interview from 20 September 2022. Approximately two weeks before that interview, Megyn Kelly announced her doctor had told her she had an autoimmune issue following the Johnson&Johnson vaccination (here is the relevant clip). If you watch the interview below starting from minute 19:30, you will notice Kelly was trying to move the discussion towards her own vaccine injury. Instead of getting any sort of real answer, it was just a laundry list of self-compliments on how you handled the pandemic. Look at the body language – it tells you the truth nobody dares utter publicly.
For the love of God, do not do this during the debate. The pandemic is your weakest point because you have no idea how to defuse this ticking bomb. If you do not do it, somebody else will detonate it right in your face, and you will not like the fallout. This will happen sooner than you think.
You now have direct access to an expert on this issue. Have a long, candid conversation in private. It is possible to navigate this minefield properly, but only if you do it on your terms.
Final Word
In conclusion, this upcoming debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is the perfect opportunity to flip the script. Be aware that seeds for a specific narrative are being planted every day. Once this narrative grabs the world’s attention, it will be nearly impossible to extricate oneself from it because the time for argumentation will have passed.
Do not fall for this trap. Just as Biden defeated himself, so will Harris. Instead of trying to expose her, use her as a tool to expose media duplicity on live TV. The September 10 will be the perfect storm and you may very well never get another chance like this.
Go scorched earth on the true foe.