Former President Donald Trump “reeks of fear” at the thought of taking on Vice President Kamala Harris in the fight for the White House, an ex-Clinton adviser told CNN Friday.
And Paul Begala added that voters can smell it.
Begala was reacting to Trump’s announcement Thursday night that he’s pulling out of a presidential debate that was scheduled for September. His team said it was 'inappropriate to schedule" it before Harris became the official nominee.
The seemingly frenzied excitement that’s met Harris’ jumping into the race has the ex-president terrified, Begala said.
“So much of this is just organic,” Begala said.
“I talked to my kids about TikTok and there are young people, they're not being coordinated by central command, producing hilarious, biting effective commentary.
“I think this is what has Trump so scared, you know? Voters are like kids and horses, they can just smell fear — and this guy stinks. He reeks of fear. He’s panic-stricken and that's why he's crawling out of the debate.”
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Then Begala came up with an unusual analogy for Trump attempting to find a way to compete with Harris.
“I mean, when you're 78 and out of shape, the moonwalk is really not a good look for you,” he said.
“And so I think that he just doesn't know what to do.”
Fellow CNN guest Marc Lotter, an ex-communications director for Trump’s 2020 campaign, stepped in to make excuses for his former boss.
“I mean, a week ago, Kamala Harris was demanding a debate with J.D. Vance and the campaign said, ‘What? Well, wait a minute, you're not even the VP nominee yet,” he said.
“And here we are a week later, she's not the nominee, so look, we know the Democratic Party, if her polls don't continue to hold up or get better, they'll cast her aside just like they did Joe Biden. So let's wait till she's actually the nominee and then actually go out and debate.”
