Jake Tapper and his pals are ‘terrified’ that Vice President Kamala Harris is destined for defeat in next month’s election, the CNN star revealed.
Speaking to Wes Moore, Maryland’s Democratic Governor, Tapper revealed fears that the Democrat was flailing in her face-off with former president Donald Trump.
His comments underscore the importance attached to the November 5 contest, which many Democrats and Republicans have presented as a fulcrum moment in US history.
‘I hear from Democratic friends who are, frankly, terrified that Vice President Harris is not closing the deal,’ Tapper said on air on Wednesday.
‘I’m sure you have even more Democratic friends than I do. What do you tell them if they reach out to you and say that they’re worried about this election?’
Tapper showed his hand while speaking live on air to Wes Moore, Maryland’s Democratic Governor.
The latest polls suggest Vice President Harris will have a tough time beating Trump in the must-win swing states.
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The governor told the CNN host that he acknowledged it was a close-fought election, but that Harris was winning over voters at this make-or-break moment.
‘I would tell people that it’s important that we get to work. The days of the hand-wringing are gone,’ Moore said.
‘She is converting people. We need to tell people you cannot sit on the sidelines on this one.’
The latest poll from The New York Times and Siena College has Harris deadlocked with Trump, after she led him in an earlier version of the poll at the start of October.
Both candidates received 48 percent of the popular vote in the poll. On October 3, Harris had a lead of 49 percent to 46 percent over Trump.
That shift is within the margin of error, but it nevertheless spooks Democrats.
It suggests that Harris is not building up the type of huge lead in the popular vote that might suggest she can beat Trump in the must-win swing states.
Trump has meanwhile shot out to his biggest lead yet in our DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners election model.
It shows that he now wins in 65.9 percent of simulations when the algorithm runs through all possible combinations of data.
Tapper’s comments come a day after Harris’ CNN town hall, which was criticized by some Democrats who said she wasn’t selling her candidacy strongly enough.
After the event ended, Tapper’s co-host Dana Bash also suggested that Harris was not managing to ‘close the deal’ with electors.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are locked in a tight race, but the DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners election model suggests the former president has all the momentum with two weeks to go
‘What I’m hearing from people who I have been talking to, and that is that if her goal was to close the deal, they’re not sure she did that,’ said Bash.
‘Is she being held to a different standard? Maybe. But that’s maybe the world that she’s living in.’
Tapper was also critical of Harris’ showing at the town hall in Pennsylvania, suggesting she opted for personal attacks on the former president rather than her policies.
‘She focused a lot more on Donald Trump, I think it’s fair to say, than she did on many specifics in terms of what she would do as president,’ Tapper said.
‘I think after eight years of Donald Trump, people are aware of Donald Trump’s persona, his proclivity for controversy, his potential to offend and the like. And I wonder if you think maybe she did too much.’