Republican pollster Frank Luntz predicted that the former president's performance in Tuesday night's debate will ultimately cost him his defeat in November's election.
During an interview on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on Wednesday, Luntz criticized the Republican candidate's performance, pointing out specific moments from his debate with Vice President Harris that he found particularly negative.
“It was a pretty negative performance. Pretty pessimistic, cynical, dismissive,” Lantz told Morgan in an interview. Mediaite highlights“And I think this is going to be costly for him,” he added.
Luntz hesitated and appeared to choose his words carefully.
“I'm trying to decide whether to go on record, but the answer is yes,” he continued. “I think he's going to lose because of this debate performance.”
Trump faced off against Harris for the first time on Tuesday night, the first time the two candidates had met face to face. During the roughly 90-minute debate, Harris attempted to provoke Trump on a range of issues, including the size of his rallies and how world leaders are “laughing” at him. Her strategy seemed to work, with the former president frequently responding to her provocations.
Early polls also suggest that viewers see Harris as the debate winner.
Luntz said the Democratic candidate did not win the debate, “but more accurately, I think Donald Trump lost.”
“This is not the worst debate performance I've seen in my career, but it's close,” he added in the interview.
Luntz highlighted a moment during the debate when he said Trump should have focused on attacking Harris on inflation and the economy.
“The conversation about people eating dogs and cats, calling the leader of Hungary one of the best leaders in the world, repeatedly missing opportunities to focus on inflation and rising prices, and the inability to express his views without nailing it on her or Joe Biden or whoever he's targeting,” Luntz said.
The Hill has asked the Trump campaign for a response.
