Pennsylvania Republicans fear Trump’s debate performance could hurt his chances

It wasn’t a train wreck, but a missed opportunity.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania left Tuesday night’s highly anticipated debate irritated by moderators who they said created an uneven playing field, but also frustrated with their own candidate, who some said was less effective than Vice President Kamala Harris in reaching undecided voters.

“The concern last night among Republicans in Delaware County was that she had been able to speak more effectively to a lot of undecided people,” said Frank Agovino, chairman of the Republican Party in suburban Philadelphia County.

Despite all the events that gathered like-minded voters to see the huge showdown, the real target audience was the roughly 3% of voters scattered across undecided states like Pennsylvania who watched from home or watched on their phones.

While it’s unclear whether the debate will shift a stubbornly locked-in electorate, Harris has focused on the center and avoided much scrutiny of her career or the issues on which she has moved. The former president, meanwhile, was left with a night filled with his own Trump outbursts rather than Harris’ defining moments.

“She had him on his heels, and he was just defending his record,” Agovino said. “He wasted an opportunity because she’s the incumbent.”

He argued that Republican women in the suburbs were turning away from the party and that Trump’s debate performance did not lend a hand convince them to stay.

“I’m concerned that sometimes the Trump campaign treats local counties as if they were Elk County or some other county that is 80 percent Republican,” he said.

Republican strategist Charlie Gerow said Trump’s best moment of the night was at the end, when he asked Harris why she hadn’t implemented some of the plans she had outlined on stage, given that he had been in office for three and a half years. The problem with the best moment being at the end, though, is that fewer people see it. And debates thrive on repetition.

“It’s like an opening statement to a jury — you make a case and then you reinforce it. And he seemed to be making too many points instead of just saying she had changed her mind on almost every point,” Gerow said.

The performance confused some Trump allies, who noted that Harris’ campaign had signaled that she would try to provoke the former president with topics that could unleash a more belligerent Trump. And Trump’s campaign had suggested that her strategy would be for Trump to hold back and stick to issues like the economy and immigration.

“Because his handlers told him he had to be nice and not be so harsh, he also did not force her to explain her position,” Gerow said.

Agovino called Trump’s pivots to topics like student loans and false claims that immigrants eat animals “wincing” but typical of the former president’s style.

“He didn’t know what he was talking about,” he said, saying he hoped Trump supporters would see beyond the “minor details” of the debate to his strength on issues such as the economy and foreign policy.

Guy Ciarrocchi, a conservative commentator from Chester County, said the opening question, which focused on inflation, carried more weight than the later bluster, given that polls show how essential the economy is to voters.

“Inflation is out of control and the economy is weak. Trump admitted that and reminded everyone about his economy. Harris wasted an opportunity to explain what she did wrong or how she was going to fix it,” Ciarrocchi said. “That clearly had the biggest impact.”

Christian Nascimento, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, said Trump largely stuck to his core message, though he wishes he had been more aggressive about Harris’ earlier positions.

“The key takeaway is that I don’t think the vice president has taken any steps to define herself and separate herself from Biden’s policies,” he said.

But whether the debate will change a race that has stubbornly stalled is unclear. Even Republicans critical of Trump’s performance Wednesday morning said they were skeptical it would make a difference.

“I don’t think it’s going to change anyone’s mind,” Gerow said. “Donald Trump is someone voters know a lot about. They don’t know a lot about Kamala Harris, and last night was an opportunity for her to say, ‘Here I am, and here’s what I want to accomplish, and I don’t think she’s defined it particularly well.’”

Despite the challenging night, some Pennsylvania Republicans want Trump to debate Harris again. Harris’ campaign has already extended an invitation, which Trump has yet to accept.

Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello was highly critical of ABC moderators for fact-checking Trump and asking questions about issues like January 6 and the Affordable Care Act. He suggested a future debate with moderators from several networks, including Fox News and CNN.

“I think Trump will come back and focus more on her past policies or positions on that,” he said.