In what could be a defining moment in the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump will face off in their first, and likely only, debate on Tuesday.
With a margin of error just eight weeks until Election Day and early voting beginning this month in key battleground states, there's no denying how high the stakes are as Harris and Trump face off for 90 primetime minutes at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
“The stakes are very high. This is going to be a really pivotal moment in the campaign,” David Kochel, a longtime Republican strategist who has worked on several Republican presidential campaigns, told Fox News Digital.
Ahead of the presidential debate, the fierce battle between the two candidates and their camps is intensifying.
Trump allies say he should debate Harris:
“There is no floor in terms of how vile he will be, and we should be prepared for that, we should be prepared for the fact that he doesn't feel the burden of telling the truth,” the vice president charged in a radio interview on the eve of the debate.
The remarks were seen as the latest attack by Harris to unsettle Trump in the days leading up to the showdown.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's debate advice to Trump: 'Let Harris speak'
In the month and a half since Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee for 2024, Trump has frequently insulted her intelligence, mocked her as “Comrade Harris” and even questioned her racial identity.
And Trump has used his usual tactics to lay the groundwork for an allegedly “rigged” debate, repeatedly attacking ABC News, which will host the 90-minute battle, and accusing the network's top talent of being biased against him.
MOSINEE, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 7: Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump departs from a campaign event at the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, Wisconsin on September 7, 2024. Recent polls have Trump lagging behind Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in battleground states. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The debate comes as Harris has been riding high in the polls and fundraising since taking over as Democratic leader, but the Trump campaign has argued that the vice president's close relationship with the American public is fading.
Click here for the latest Fox News coverage of the Harris vs. Trump debate
Biden's disastrous debate defeat against Trump in late June sparked doubts about whether he was physically and mentally capable of serving in the White House for another four years and prompted calls from within his party for the 81-year-old president to not seek a second term. Amid growing pressure from Democrats, Biden ended his reelection campaign in a highly publicized announcement on July 21, saying he would endorse the vice president.
“I don't know if there will ever be a debate more significant than the one that knocked Biden out of the race, but if there ever will be one, it will be this one,” Kocher stressed.
“The race has settled into a dead heat, which may be the only real point at which candidates can move up or down the ranks,” he said, pointing to the latest national and battleground state polls that show the race within the margin of error.
Harris and Trump are taking very different approaches to Tuesday's showdown.
Trump and Harris set to clash as 2024 presidential campaign enters final stages
Harris has spent much of the past four days holed up in a Pittsburgh hotel, taking part in an intensive “debate camp” that included numerous mock debates, before arriving in Philadelphia on Monday night, 24 hours before the debate.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a Labor Day campaign event at IBEW Local 5 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 2, 2024. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Trump spent much of the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, taking part in private “policy meetings” with aides and allies, but he also headlined a campaign rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Saturday.
Fox News has learned that Trump is scheduled to spend Tuesday meeting with advisers at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, before flying to Philadelphia just hours before the debate begins at 9 p.m. Eastern time, and will be simulcast on Fox News Channel.
“Mr. Trump's experience with unscripted press conferences and interviews during his campaign means he's well-equipped to handle a variety of styles,” Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told reporters on the eve of the debate.
The former president has repeatedly criticized Harris for giving only one major interview and no press conference since replacing Biden as Democratic leader, and on the eve of the debate, the Trump campaign announced that Harris would hold another press conference on Friday in Los Angeles.
Check out the latest FOX News 2024 election poll here
Both candidates go into the debate looking to achieve specific goals.
For Harris, task number one will be to avoid any major gaffes and do any damage. Another goal will be to appeal to the remaining undecided voters in the race and neutralize Trump's repeated accusations that the vice president is more liberal than progressive stars Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
It's up for debate – to what extent should Harris counter Trump's false statements?
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a rising Democratic star and a key surrogate for Harris, told reporters on Monday, “I don't think the vice president is going to spend his time fact-checking Donald Trump. I don't think that's a useful thing to do.”
Moore added that Harris, who is less well known among Americans than Trump, “needs to spend time laying out her vision for what the future of this country will be.”
For Trump, who faces a large gap in support among female voters, his top priority in the debate will be to avoid further insulting Harris, who would make history as the first female president of the United States if elected.
Also high on Trump's to-do list is effectively connecting Harris with Biden, as Americans continue to grapple with easing but persistent inflation and Biden's approval ratings remain low.
“She can run, but she can't escape her tenure in the Biden administration,” Trump campaign senior adviser Corey Lewandowski said Monday on Fox News' “The Story.” “So, as I think this debate goes, it's going to be an opportunity for the American people to see two candidates who have fundamentally different views on what this country should look like.”
“The American people know where President Trump stands. They know what they got when President Trump was president,” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, an ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital.
“Kamala Harris is trying to run with a clean slate,” Cotton said, referring to the vice president.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another Trump ally, said his advice to the former president was to “let Harris do the talking.”
“The more she speaks off a teleprompter, the more she shows America that she really isn't up to the job,” the three-term governor argued in an interview with Fox News Digital.
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Ari Fleischer, a Republican consultant and Fox News contributor who served as White House press secretary under George W. Bush, said Trump “needs to attack Harris on policy, just like he did with Biden in the first debate. That was a disciplined, tough, policy-oriented Donald Trump. That's the same Donald Trump we want to see facing off against Kamala Harris.”
But the big question heading into the debate is whether Trump will heed the advice he's receiving and remain disciplined through the showdown.
“Trump will behave in his own way,” Miller told reporters.
After much discussion about the debate, both sides agreed to follow the same rules as the Biden-Trump debate.
The most controversial rule was that microphones would be muted again while his opponent was responding, which experts saw as a win for Trump.
As with the June debate, there will be no studio audience.
Both candidates will be provided with pens, notepads and water bottles, but will not be allowed to take notes beforehand or bring in props, nor will they be allowed to speak with campaign staff during the debate or commercial breaks.
According to the rules, only hosts David Muir and Lindsay Davis of ABC News will be allowed to ask questions.
After the debate, Harris will immediately return to the campaign trail, starting with two rallies in North Carolina on Thursday and making stops in several key battleground states.
“This is certainly a pivotal moment in the campaign, but it's a fleeting moment,” Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist and presidential campaign veteran, told Fox News Digital. “It was within the margin of error going into the debate and it will be within the margin of error going into the debate.”
Trump will also soon be back on the campaign trail, with a stop in the battleground state of Arizona on Thursday.
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital's Election Hub.
