Lara Trump told Scripps News the presidential debate between her father-in-law, former President Donald Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday night was largely what the Republican camp expected but that he was forced to "defend himself quite a bit," both from his competitor and from the moderators of the event.
Following the first — and perhaps only — debate between the two candidates, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump told Scripps News that Trump's campaign allies anticipated Harris would "sling a bunch of insults" in the GOP candidate's direction, but she said it was "unfortunate" that the debate appeared to include these "attacks" more often than talk of each other's policy plans if elected president.
"I think the people of this country want to know, 'OK, what is it you're going to do?' And I thought the moderators' questions, unfortunately, didn't allow for a lot of expansion in that direction," Lara Trump told Scripps News' Haley Bull.
RELATED STORY | Harris, Trump clash on the economy, abortion, immigration in fiery debate
Lara Trump, who's married to the former president's son Eric, said she believes her father-in-law was still able to convey a message that Americans' lives were "better under Donald Trump" and harder under President Biden and Harris, and that Trump got this message across despite the Democratic nominee using lying as a debate strategy, namely in regards to Project 2025.
Dozens of former Trump administration officials were authors of the conservative plan for the next Republican president, and Trump has said the outline includes both good and bad ideas. However, he's claimed to have "nothing to do" with it and even said during the debate on Tuesday that he doesn't "want to read it purposely." This was in response to Harris saying Trump "intends on implementing" Project 2025 if he is elected again.
"It is very challenging when someone lies to your face about multiple things, but he was able to correct the record. He was able to remind people that, no, indeed that's not true, and a whole host of other things," Lara Trump told Scripps News. "But certainly it seems like that was the attempt Kamala Harris had. And the sad thing is for the people of this country that instead of just trying to needle your opponent in order to win a debate, it would be nice if we were able to hear more policies and more things on which people were actually running and their vision for the future of this country."
RELATED STORY | Scripps News fact-checks the Trump-Harris presidential debate
According to Scripps News' debate fact check, both candidates made misleading statements. Harris was off on certain job and tariff statistics, while Trump amplified various conspiracy theories and false inflation and crime rates.
Harris' camp, though, is seemingly viewing the debate in a different light than Trump's allies. Harris campaign officials said the vice president was looking to call out the Republican candidate on his false claims and juxtapose his rhetoric with a more optimistic vision of the future, and they believe that was done effectively.
Still, they aren't basing her entire campaign on one night, with a presidential run that's been much shorter than that of her competitor.
Looking ahead, both Trump and Harris are continuing campaign stops in opposite regions, with the Republican candidate expected in California and Arizona and the Democrat kicking off a battleground state blitz.
To view the full interview with Lara Trump, watch the video above.
