Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker warned that former President Donald Trump is “not to be underestimated” in a debate given his past performances.
The Democrat governor cautioned against complacency and confidence for Vice President Kamala Harris as she is set to square off against Trump for the first time on September 10.
Speaking with CNN’s Sara Sidner, Pritzker reminded about Trump’s previous face-offs with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and, just recently, the disastrous debate with President Joe Biden that effectively killed off the incumbent’s shot at re-election.
(Video Credit: CNN)
“I don’t think anybody should underestimate Donald Trump,” Pritzker stated.
“He has won a couple of debates that he did. Certainly, people would say that he won the debate against President Biden a couple of months ago,” he said, referring to the June debate in which Biden stumbled over his words and raged at his opponent.
“We saw that he won the debate against Hillary Clinton when he ran the first time,” Pritzker continued. “He’s not to be underestimated.”
The governor contended that Harris is a “tremendous person with great capability” but that these qualities won’t score her a decisive victory over Trump on the debate stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
“We shouldn’t be thinking that somehow Kamala Harris has a greater ability to win a debate than Donald Trump,” Pritzker said. “They’re going to come in as significant rivals with very, very different points of view.”
“I think getting those points of view across and making sure you’re not getting flummoxed, frankly, by Donald Trump, will be an important thing for Kamala Harris,” he added.
On Sunday, the governor told WMUR that the debate would be a difficult one for both nominees.
“I think this is going to be a very, very hard debate on both sides. These are both, you know, Donald Trump. I don’t think much of Donald Trump, but he has won some of the debates that he’s been in,” Pritzker said.
(Video Credit: WMUR-TV)
“Kamala Harris, I think, is stupendous. I think she’s very smart. She’s also thoughtful about her responses, so I think people will get to see and get to know her in that debate, but I’m not taking anything for granted,” gushed Pritzker, whose name had been floated as a possible running mate for Harris.
While the guidelines for the ABC News-hosted event on Sept. 10 are to follow those outlined for the CNN debate, the Harris team has not yet signed off on the rules.
ABC rejects Harris efforts to change debate rules and her team is fuming https://t.co/riIuMuvCk5 via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 30, 2024
“The memo sent by ABC is a draft set of rules that both campaigns need to sign off on and indicate agreement,” Harris spokesperson Brian Fallon wrote last week on X.
“We have not done so because we think both candidates have expressed a clear desire to have hot mics. Not clear why Trump staff is overruling their principal, who should be capable of making up his own mind,” Fallon added.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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