GOP Pollster Says How Harris Handles Trump Will Prove She Can Deal With Putin: He’s a ‘Stand-In For An Autocrat’

GOP pollster and publisher of the anti-Trump publication The Bulwark, Sarah Longwell , joined CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday to discuss the Trump-Harris debate later in the evening.

Bash asked Longwell to discuss her focus groups of swing voters and what she has learned they are looking for from each candidate.

“I think that what voters really have their antennas up for is authenticity. I think what Kamala has struggled with in the past is, look, it’s hard being the vice president. You got to be out there on somebody else’s behalf where you don’t get to say what you think. I think part of the reason she seemed to struggle a little bit in 2019 is because she was trying to run to the left of this big Democratic field. I’m not sure that’s who she is,” Longwell said, adding:

I think that she needs to go in there and say what’s true. I know this is crazy advice, but I think you should say what’s true. She should say if she thinks that she and Joe Biden got some things wrong, she should say they got some things wrong. I do think voters really like it when they actually hear a politician say something like, you know, while I was vice president, I learned a lot about how to be president for all Americans.

But I think that we play a parlor game here in D.C. of like she has to say these words. This is exactly how she has to do it. Look, she has been so much better at this when she has been able to speak for herself and say exactly what she thinks. And so I think she should go in there and be as authentic a version of herself as possible, say what’s true to her. Because I think for her to win this debate, she has got to, people have got to be like, I see this, I like this. And I think there’s a lot of I was listening to your panel beforehand this this question about should she try to rattle Trump?

Here’s what rattles Trump, a woman showing a competent command of the policy details and sort of what she believes. That’ll rattle him plenty. He rattles himself. She doesn’t need to do things to get under his skin. Forget about him. Talk to the American people. They want to meet you.

“Well, that’s one of the things I was going to ask you. And that is about the sort of female factor and what you’re hearing from your focus group participants, not about her in particular, but the way that they view him as he is facing a woman. But even more importantly, what he says and continues to say about women as he is running again,” Bash followed up.

“Yeah, you know, here’s the thing about that I hear from voters, which is, look, Donald Trump always wants to sort of tap in to an undercurrent of fear in the American people that a woman can’t do this job. And I hear voters articulate this a lot. They say things like, ‘You know, other countries, you know, their leaders don’t respect women. And so I’m just concerned about how a woman would be as president.’ But here’s the thing about Donald Trump. He’s a little bit of a stand-in for an autocrat ,” Longwell replied, adding:

Somebody actually articulated this in one of the focus groups. How she handles Trump is going to project for voters how she would handle people like Vladimir Putin, how she would handle these these autocrats across the world that I think these voters are concerned about. And I think if she shows, like I said, command of the policy details, but also an unwillingness to sort of sink to his level and ability to handle him on the stage. That’s the kind of thing that would give voters confidence not just about her ability to beat Donald Trump, but her ability to deal with world leaders that, yeah, might be hostile toward the United States.

“That is so interesting. Sarah, I always learn so much from you. Thank you so much for having me on. Happy debate day,” Bash concluded.

Watch the clip above via CNN .