The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is being broadcast on ABC News on Tuesday evening.
According to NTD contributor Mike Leon, the director of policy and strategy at the Free and Equal Elections Foundation, there are likely to be five topics in the debate that American voters care about the most—the economy, gun control, immigration, abortion, and foreign policy.
“The economy remains a top concern for voters,” he said, while the other key issues will not be far from center stage at the debate. Trump’s stance on abortion, especially in light of Florida’s six-week ban, will be scrutinized, he said.
Although foreign policy is normally low on voters’ priority lists, “it’s going to be high in this debate because of the war in Gaza, because of the war in Ukraine, and mostly because of the money that the U.S. sends to both of these conflict zones,” Leon said.
“We could potentially be involved militarily down the road with some of these, and China’s aggression towards Taiwan,” he said.
Leon said this will likely be “the biggest audience Kamala Harris has ever had watch one of her debates or speeches.” While she took part in a vice-presidential debate in 2020, this could be the most-watched event of the political cycle, he said, similar to the 51 million who watched the CNN debate—which changed American politics when it contributed to the introduction of a new presidential candidate.
Leon said he recently spoke with reporters covering voter issues in two states and found that many people are focused on learning more about Harris’s policy positions—how they’ve evolved since her presidential run, and what she’s accomplished as vice president. He said they want to understand why, given her role in the White House, the Biden administration hasn’t already “done some of the things that she’s outlined.”
Leon also compared the two candidates’ approaches to debate preparation, finding them to be quite different. Harris has been in Pittsburgh, hunkered down with her team, and balancing rallies with debate prep. In contrast, Trump has openly said he’s not doing formal debate preparation, preferring to rely on his “on-the-fly” style.
“He doesn’t feel like he needs to write down notes,” Leon said. “It will be interesting to see how both react to each other.”