‘Obvious traps’: SE Cupp reacts to Harris’ strategy to distract Trump during debate

joining me this hour, Megan Hayes, former special assistant to President Biden, as she was the director of message planning at the white House. And CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp, who's also the host of battleground. Good to see you both this morning. N/A you know, I've been thinking all morning about where to begin. There's a lot of different things we can talk about, but I want to throw this to you. One of the things that I found fascinating is, you know, as Kevin Liptak was just pointing out, the fact that Donald Trump went into the spin room after that says something. Donald Trump wanted to get in front of a camera again. Donald Trump wanted to work on. One would imagine his narrative, but that's because the person who really seemed to understand the medium and play to it, that being TV and the TV audience, see, I would argue, is the vice president. Yeah, they both had a bunch of jobs to do last night. and unfortunately, I don't think he accomplished any of his. and she, on the other hand, seemed to accomplish all of her. one of her jobs was to speak not to her base, not to the far left, but to swing state voters who are undecided. And we heard time and time again on policy and substance. She was sort of tacking to the middle, on a number of these issues and pushing back against Trump's attempt to define her as radical and Marxist and and for life. She also was meant to put him, into a defensive crouch. And boy, did she. I mean, she laid some bait that was not cleverly hidden. This was like these were obvious traps. and he walked giddily into all of them. She knew that. Revealing his his personal attacks, the distractions. This turns off swing state voters who are undecided. She accomplished that mission. He was meant to go in and talk about the issues that resonate with with his base. and a lot of moderates, by the way, on the economy and immigration. And instead of really drilling down on his policy or even attacking, the Biden administration's policies, he really got distracted and went into some very strange territory, territory that I don't think will appeal to those undecided swing state voters yet territory that, his campaign in debate prep certainly did not want him entering. this as we look at this, look, Kamala Harris getting a lot of praise this morning, but there are some questions about perhaps a couple of missed opportunities. Part of what she needed to do was introduce herself and her policies a little bit better to the American voter, to those who aren't as familiar with her. And there was a real opportunity there when it came to a question about why she had changed when it came to certain policies, talked about that she would get all of them. She stuck with fracking, which of course, is important in the state of Pennsylvania. Should she have done more to explain her changing positions? Look, I don't think she has as many changing positions as we all would like to believe here, and what Donald Trump is pointing her out to be. I think that is a very short debate when when you break out the timing and the commercials and all the things, I think that her bar was extremely high to me. She had to show that she was presidential, she had to reintroduce herself. She has to talk about her policies, that she's never going to be everything to every person. But she knocked it out of the park last night. She Donald Trump again denied the, the outcome of the 2020 election. He doesn't think that Ukraine should be winning the war against Russia, which sent shockwaves through democracies all around the world. I mean, she showed that she was presidential. She showed that she's willing to take on a bully. There are a lot of things that she accomplished last night that I don't think people were expecting from her and ready to see, but I do think that she, you know, she did lay some traps for Donald Trump that he walked into and not accepting the results of the election again and again. That is something that swing state voters and these moms and these suburban and battleground states just cannot understand. Their toddler has to take responsibility for their own actions. And he just refuses to do it. And I think the more that they can hammer those types of things home and over the next 56 days, I think that that she will have a very good chance of winning in November. I think she hit the mark of what she needed to do. But this race is by no means over and the hard work still is in front of them. See this polling that we just went through, with Harry noting that 63% of those after the debate said that who watch said that they thought she won. Harry noting that they leaned more Republican. I know you were speaking to a lot of people in the state of Pennsylvania ahead of the debate about what needed to happen and what voters were looking for. what do you make of that outcome? Listen, we have to remember that a lot of the people who tune into these big nights, whether they're conventions or debates, are already politically engaged. so some of those voters, the cake is baked. However, we've also been speaking to a lot of undecided swing state voters who said this debate is what they were waiting for. They wanted to know more about Kamala Harris. They wanted to see these two on a stage together and see how they would react, and interact. And if we believe the 3% of Pennsylvania voters who are undecided, or the 18% of all American registered voters who say they are undecided that they were waiting for this debate, I think that a nurse, to the benefit of Kamala Harris, maybe as you watch where we move from this moment, right, moving into these 55 days of the campaign, what are you going to be watching for over the next, let's say, even 48 hours? What would your message to Kamala Harris be in terms of what she needs to do? I mean, I think she needs to get out there and continuing to talk to voters. I think she needs to do more local media. I think that that is a one way that people can get to know you. Not everyone's going to have time to go to a rally, take off work. Those are you know, that's an extremely rare thing that people are able to do, to be able to go to these rallies and see her in person. So I do think having a local media strategy in these battleground states would be extremely beneficial to her, but I think she needs to continue to talk about the issues and where she stands on things. And I think that's what people need to hear. And I think the more you say it, and the more you keep reminding people who you are and the things that they've done, the Biden-Harris administration has done for you, I think people will get to see, you know, a real difference and continue to draw the contrast between you and Donald Trump and the character arguments. Nobody wants a president that is going to be extremely volatile and yelling all the time, regardless of what their policies are. Nobody wants America to be represented that way, and the rest of the world. And so I think, you know, she just needs to keep her doing the work and doing the things that they're doing right now and, and continue throughout the next 56 days, 55 days. I mean, who's counting? Right. you know, we've talked a lot. We've talked a lot. in this election, we talked certainly after the June debate about the concerns of down ballot races. when it came to Joe Biden's performance in that debate, where things stand out when you're talking to voters, how much are they talking about those other elections? Is there focus more on the top of the ticket or on the down ballot races, those local races that are going to impact them more on a daily basis? it's mixed and it depends on the state. Right. if you're in Arizona, a lot of voters are tuning in to that Senate race between Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego. If you're in North Carolina, a lot of voters are tuning into the gubernatorial race. and those don't have to portend what's going to happen in the presidential races. And voters know how to separate those, you know, politically. And, in terms of partizanship. So they are tuned in, but I think what we're seeing is a very high tune in to the presidential election this year. and that's why these margins are so tight, and that's why I think they're going to continue to be tight right up until Election Day. Yes, yes. well, it may be a bit of a campaign message. I think it's also pretty clear this the underdog thing. This is not a decided race by any stretch of the imagination. So, you know, we got a lot to talk about, which keeps us all employed for a little while longer. My friends. Thank you both.