'Not a likable guy': Paul Begala tells CNN Harris plans for Trump to be himself in debate

Vice President Kamala Harris is hoping to parade Donald Trump in front of millions of TV viewers at next week’s debate in his natural state, Democratic strategist Paul Begala told CNN Tuesday.

The Democratic Party’s presidential nominee hopes to unleash Trump by insisting that microphones are left on throughout the ABC News' Sept. 10 broadcast — and she’s betting on Trump himself convincing voters not to back him.

“She’s like, hey, if he wants to be rude, if he wants to interrupt me, that's fine,” Begala told CNN’s John Berman.

“Trump is not a likable guy, let's be honest. His favorability is 25 points underwater, 25 points! Kamala Harris, in that same poll, is three points above water, which is hard to do in this toxic political environment.

“So people like Kamala, they don't like Donald. Give him the space to confirm what they already think that the guy is. ‘I think he’s not that nice,' 'He just, I don't like him.’"

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Begala’s theory got pushback from former Trump campaign aide Bryan Lanza, who said people will vote for policy over personality.

“He is going to deal with inflation, something that the Biden-Harris administration has basically ignored for nearly three-and-a-half years,” Lanza said.

“He's going to deal with the border which has been flooded with nearly 15 million illegal aliens that are, that are sort of sucking out our services. And he's going to highlight those issues whether the mics are on or the mics are off.”

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