Trump 'probably wins' if election is about policy, CNN host says
CNN host and political commentator Michael Smerconish said on Friday that former President Trump holds a significant advantage over Vice President Harris on policy.
"So the question is one of the race going to be about personality. If it is, he loses," Smerconish said of Trump, adding that Trump, however, "probably wins" in a battle over policy with Harris.
"When you look at the data and when you ask people whether they appreciate, I'll say the Biden-Harris record or the Trump record, they look back favorably on the Trump years."
Harris spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night, formally accepting the nomination for president from her party.
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"But [Trump's] got to rein in his worst instincts," Smerconish continued.
"He deviates too much from that script when he looks at the audience and thinks they‘re getting bored," he said. "Let‘s not forget, the Republicans had a great convention. I thought they were note-perfect and, so too, the Democrats."
"So it‘s still up in the air," Smerconish said of the election fight between Harris and Trump. "It‘s still a margin of error [race]. Who the heck knows the next twist in this road?"
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Earlier in the segment, Smerconish also pressed Harris to take questions from journalists: "Now, she‘s got to sustain this momentum when she‘s questioned, because it still rankles me, the idea that on the 8th of August she was asked when she would make herself available for an interview and she said, ‘I think I‘m going to do that by the end of the month.’ By the end of the month?"
He continued, "So that is the next stage and I know it‘s causing tremendous frustration on the part of former President Trump. He's like bursting at the seams, watching her ascendance at the time that she‘s not being questioned in detail on these issues. If she‘s not questioned in detail on these issues before the debate, he‘s going to be, like, ready to pop. So that‘s what I want to see next."
The Trump and Harris campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz, Bradford Betz, Landon Mion and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.