Ex-Trump advisor Chris Christie says Trump will give in and face Harris in another debate: ‘He needs it’

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Donald Trump’s former debate coach predicted on Sunday that the ex-president would accept CNN’s invitation for a debate in the coming weeks.

Chris Christie appeared as part of the political panel on ABC’s This Week on Sunday where the former New Jersey governor explained that Trump “needs” another go at debating Democratic rival Kamala Harris given her successful performance against him at the September presidential debate in Philadelphia.

Harris has already accepted the October 23 debate proposal, while Trump has said it is “too late” for another match-up.

Christie, who helped prep Trump for the debates in 2020, said the former president’s polling is why he will eventually agree, as it was trending “away” from the former president’s favor and risked showing him sliding into a firm second place if trends were not corrected in the weeks ahead.

“[T]hese debate decisions, George, are tactical, they’re not philosophical. They’re tactical,” Christie told host George Stephanopoulos. “And if the polls continue to move a bit away from Trump, you know how much he focuses on that. And he’s going to need something to change it and in today’s media landscape, absent a big mistake by one or the other, this is the only way.”

Christie added that Trump would “convince himself” of his ability to deliver a knockout performance against Harris in a debate, even after missing that chance already.

“He will convince himself that if she gets in the ring with him again, that he’ll knock her out. That will be his mindset,” Christie said. “Now, whether he’ll do the work that’s gonna be necessary to be prepared which he clearly did not do the last time is a completely open question. But I’ll say this, he needs it.”

Christie added: “I think he’ll eventually capitulate.”

Trump has not put out a statement at any length addressing the CNN invitation, but at a rally in North Carolina on Saturday appeared to dismiss the proposed debate as “too late” in the election season.

Polling and other metrics have shown Harris taking a clear grasp of the race’s momentum in the wake of her September 10 showdown with Trump in Pennsylvania as well as generally since the beginning of her campaign for president in July. On Friday, that trend was underscored once more by the posting of August’s fundraising numbers; Harris’s campaign blew past her opponent’s for the second straight month.

On Sunday, the release of a new NBC News national poll outlined how the race has shifted dramatically since President Joe Biden stepped aside as the Democratic nominee. In the first survey from this pollster since Biden’s announcement, Harris has rebuilt her party’s standing and now leads her opponent by five percentage points, buoyed by her soaring favorability ratings.

Harris’s campaign is still calling the race a dead heat and encouraging supporters view it the same way. Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon attacked Trump for his apparent refusal to accept the CNN debate stage in a statement on Saturday.

“It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate. Debates offer a unique chance for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America,” she said.

“Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump, and she has accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate. It is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June, when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules, and ratings,” O’Malley Dillon continued. “We look forward to Vice President Harris again having the opportunity in the CNN debate to show her command of the issues and why it’s time to turn the page on Donald Trump and chart a new way forward for America.”