Chris Christie urges Harris not to engage Trump if he launches personal attacks during debate

By 
 September 9, 2024

There's no doubt that former President Donald Trump, at some point during his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, will launch a series of brutally true attacks on the Democratic nominee. 

However, some people, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, believe Harris should not engage when Trump drops his bombs all over her.

According to The Hill, Christie's advice to Harris is that she shouldn't engage in "back-and-forth" with the former president.

Christie, a failed Republican presidential candidate, further urged the Democratic nominee to "charm and disarm" when and if Trump launches his attacks.

What did he say?

Christie, obviously not a fan of the former president, explained what he believes to be Harris' best shot at beating Trump in the debate during a recent ABC News interview.

"If I were preparing Kamala Harris, I told her to write two words only on there: charm and disarm. That’s it," Christie said.

He added, "She needs to look into that camera and charm the American people. She needs to show that she’s not going to be the 24-hour-a-day leaf blower noise that he is."

"She’s got to go and show them there’s another way to lead. There is a way that you can be kind, that you can be smart and tough at the same time. That’s the charm,” he added.

"Disarm … do not engage him in that stuff," he continued.

"Decrease his stature"

Christie, also a former debate coach for Trump, urged Harris to "decrease his stature" when responding to any attacks.

"If she refuses to engage him in that back-and-forth, which Hillary failed at miserably because she wasn’t good at it and she engaged, don’t engage with him on that,” Christie said. “That increases his stature. You want to decrease his stature by being dismissive of him," he said.

The Hill noted that several of Trump's GOP allies have urged him to refrain from attacking Harris personally. Whether or not he'll listen to that advice is anyone's guess. They want him to focus on policy differences first.

ABC News will host the debate and will last 90 minutes with only two commercial breaks. It should be one for the books, that's for certain.

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