Why? Because Harris refuses to take questions from voters, do sit-down interviews, hold a press conference, or even debate more than once. So tonight is it: the one opportunity for Trump to push Harris directly on her radical record. Here’s what I think he should do, as a first-time voter this November:
In a political environment that has been completely flipped upside down in the past month with an attempted assassination and a top of the ticket nominee switch, Donald Trump faces an entirely different election cycle than he did 2 months ago. Biden was an easy opponent. He didn’t campaign, and when he did, his numbers went down because of his blunders. Harris is an entirely different adversary. She’s younger, more energetic, using social media as a weapon, and will make history if elected. This election will not be a landslide anymore.
It will be a close one. My advice: take your heart pills before results come in the night of November 5th.
Trump and Co. can’t run the same campaign they were previously running. The whole ball game just changed and we need to be on offense, not defense. I think the perfect example of what the Trump campaign should be focusing on over the next 10 weeks is what he did at his Bedminster press conference a few weeks ago.
His team stopped by the local grocery store, bought a buggy full of every day items, and laid them on the table beside Trump with big posters showing the price inflation per item: cooking oil up 38%, butter up 31%, cookies up 27%, etc, etc. Not only did he conduct his hour-long press conference beside the groceries, but he also filmed a viral TikTok after that and reached my fellow first time voters on their “For You Page”!
Genius! This is the way, and the talking points he should use tonight!
The voters Trump needs to secure a victory in November can be broken down into three groups: Nikki Haley supporters, independents, and disenfranchised Democrats who correctly feel their party has gone too extreme. Trump will not win these voters with personal attacks or the same rally lines he’s used for the past 8 years. Those won over his base; now he has to win the middle. Winning these groups will take discipline, which he is showing, and posing the simple question he posed in his first tweet back on the platform: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Tie her to her administration’s failures!
Trump should spend the entire time on the debate stage doing what he did last time against Biden in June: keeping his composure and painting a stark contrast for the American people to see on the split screen. Trump should remind us of what everyday life was like under his administration: low gas prices, low inflation, no foreign wars, no dead U.S. service members. It’s that simple and will turn a light bulb on in the head of my peers who aren’t yet convinced. Then, he should follow the debate up by hitting the road and traveling to college campuses, meeting with students, fraternities, and sororities to share his plan to improve our future and the nation we’ll grow up in. To win in November, Trump must go where we are, and that’s at school!
There’s nothing any of us can do to counter the history that would be made if Harris is elected. You can attempt to hire Gen Z staffers and trend on social media but only so many of those views will convert to votes. The way to actually win this election in November is speaking directly to the everyday American who can barely stay above water in the current economy, and tonight is Trump’s final attempt to do that before early-voting kicks off.
Brilyn Hollyhand is an eighteen year old political commentator, strategist, bestselling author, host of “The Brilyn Hollyhand Show”, and Chair of the RNC’s Youth Advisory Council.
