“People don’t like it when politicians attack each other. Accountability? Yes. Attacks? No,” Luntz said. When asked about the best “word choice” for Trump when discussing Harris, Luntz suggested, “Can you name one thing she did as vice president? And leave it at that.”
Luntz criticized Trump for often resorting to lengthy attacks instead of concise statements, saying, “Just once, can he answer a question in ten words? Or answer with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’? Just once, can he answer anything without delivering an attack?”
Harris has promoted several administration initiatives during her tenure as vice president, including green school bus and broadband programs, but these have struggled to gain significant traction. “It’s legitimate criticism. She was number two in this country and was given responsibility for immigration,” Luntz noted. “Now, I’m going to upset the other side. How’s our immigration working out?”
President Biden tasked Harris with addressing the root causes of immigration, which she once attributed to a “lack of climate adaptation.” The Biden-Harris administration has overseen at least 6.7 million illegal migrant encounters at the southern border, according to the House Committees on Homeland Security and Oversight and Accountability.
Michaelson countered, noting that Harris’s team claims she was put in charge of investigating the root causes of immigration. Luntz responded, “And what did she do there? How successful has she been? What else did Joe Biden task her to do? In our lifetime, we’ve seen Dick Cheney, who was arguably as powerful as the president. Joe Biden, as vice president, had specific responsibilities under the Obama administration. She did nothing.”
Polling has tightened significantly since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris in July. Harris, who has yet to participate in an unscripted long-form interview since becoming the de facto Democratic nominee, trails Trump by about 1% in the RealClearPolitics polling average. This is a notable shift from the three-point average lead Trump had over Biden before Biden stepped aside.