With One Day To Go Before The Debate, Trump’s Campaign Just Made A Giant Blunder

Donald Trump’s campaign manager raised expectation’s sky high for Trump while lowering the bar for Hillary Clinton during a Sunday interview.

Video:

ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

Transcript via ABC’s This Week:

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s what you’re saying right there. But it’s not what your boss has said. Donald Trump this week is saying, oh, boy, Lester Holt is going to be under tremendous pressure. He’s a Democrat when, in fact, Lester Holt is a registered Republican.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

CONWAY: Well, as I say, he’s certainly going to be a good debate moderator tomorrow in that I trust that all of these moderators, George, for all the debates, including the V.P. debate next week, will be asking questions that benefit the voter.

Voters deserve and they, indeed, expect a good debate on the issues. This will be the first time Americans have seen Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on the same stage and they’re going to be able to make their choice based on what they see and what is said.

And I can understand why the Clinton camp is very nervous because Donald Trump has got great present stature. He’s a brilliant debater. Newt Gingrich put it best. the former Speaker recently said Donald Trump is the best debater he’s ever seen. He’s like the Babe Ruth of debating. He really shows up and swings and does a great job.

Calling Donald Trump the Babe Ruth of debating is the kind of self-promotional hype that sounds like it came right out of the advertising materials for Trump University.

The reality is that Trump is a worse debater that Mitt Romney. He is a worse debater than John McCain. Republicans may have never had a candidate who is as bad at debating as Donald Trump. Trump won the Republican primary debates by laying low and letting a stage full of other Republicans play demolition derby for 2 hours.

Trump’s worse debates of the primary came when there were fewer candidates on the stage. The more Donald Trump is forced to speak, the worse his performance becomes.

Calling Trump the Babe Ruth of debating raises expectations at a time when his campaign had been working to lower them Kellyanne Conway made a serious blunder by trying to project Trump’s nervousness on to Clinton. America has already seen Trump wilt under the national spotlight at the Republican Convention.

Trump’s campaign should be doing everything to lower expectations, instead of setting a standard that may be impossible to reach.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association