How will Sunday’s presidential debate change the dynamics of the race? https://t.co/s0Pf2sgnTJ
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) October 7, 2016
Amid Friday morning hurricane coverage, Meet the Press host Chuck Todd visited with MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Looking towards the Sunday debate, Todd believes that if Donald Trump doesn’t knock it out of the park, the GOP could see a public split within the party. All of this goes back to the Republican establishment’s continuous grumbling of Trump as the voice of the party. But all of this is uncertain, since some GOP members remain non-committal while others have caved and pledged their allegiance to their presidential nominee for the preservation of the party.
However, Todd said the key for Trump’s next debate is to stop Clinton’s momentum, but his performance could signal what’s next for the party:
“But listen to the subtle signals that Congressional Republicans were sending yesterday, a few blind quotes here and there. If Donald Trump doesn’t have a good night on Sunday and it’s similar to the first debate, then you may start seeing the down-ballot exodus in some form.”
Trump seemed to get flustered at times during the first debate. He interrupted a lot and then sniffles signed a downhill slide. If Trump takes a cue from his vice presidential choice Mike Pence, he could win the debate, and Todd believes the next debate is a “do-or-die” situation for Trump:
“Is it just candidates proactively running away, whatever it is,” he continued. “You now have the sense that Trump — and we’ve been here before with him — one of these do-or-die moments with the Republican Party. If it’s a debate performance like the first night, it may be unrecoverable, and you may see the party publicly split.”
Trump was reportedly upset with Pence’s calm debate performance, but he may need to bit the bullet and model his next debate performance after his VP choice. But knowing Trump, he may just stick to the classics.
(Via MSNBC’ Morning Joe)
