Maggie Haberman: Trump ’just playing for time at this point' in debating Harris

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump backtracking from a commitment to a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris shows he’s less confident in his ability to stand up to the former prosecutor.

“In terms of the debate, I think he is finding himself a little less than sure footed as this race as changed and it seems as if he’s buying time,” journalist Maggie Haberman said during an interview with CNN’s Pamela Brown Friday afternoon.

While Harris says she’s ready for a debate, Trump’s campaign said in a Thursday statement that scheduling a debate with her “would be inappropriate,” before she’s officially confirmed as the Democratic nominee, “because Democrats very well could still change their minds.”

Read also: Maggie Haberman shares big lesson Trump has learned since 2020 debates

That didn’t stop Trump from debating Biden in June, when neither had gained their party’s formal endorsement, and Haberman says Trump’s reluctance is telling.

“There aren’t very many big moments left that we can predict in this race, but a debate between these two nominees … that would be a big moment,” Haberman says. “I think he’s just playing for time at this point.”

Trump’s plan to return to Butler, Pennsylvania – where he was nearly shot and killed by a would-be assassin earlier this month – was also a revealing move to Haberman, who suggested that it may counterintuitively be a safe place for Trump where he could regain his confidence.

“That was a moment that came at the end of a month where his popularity had increased and it started increasing after his debate with President Biden," Haberman said. “I think some of that is level setting for him.”

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