Ex-Trump advisor Chris Christie says Trump will give in and face Harris in another debate: ‘He needs it’

Donald Trump’s former debate coach predicted on Sundaythat the ex-president would accept CNN’s invitation for a debate in the coming weeks.

Chris Christie appeared as part of the political panel on ABC’s This Weekon Sunday where the former New Jersey governor explained that Trump “needs” another go at debating Democratic rival Kamala Harris given her successful performance against him at the September presidential debate in Philadelphia.

Harris has already accepted the October 23 debate proposal, while Trump has said it is “too late” for another match-up.

Christie, who helped prep Trump for the debates in 2020, said the former president’s polling is why he will eventually agree, as it was trending “away” from the former president’s favor and risked showing him sliding into a firm second place if trends were not corrected in the weeks ahead.

“[T]hese debate decisions, George, are tactical, they’re not philosophical. They’re tactical,” Christie told host George Stephanopoulos. “And if the polls continue to move a bit away from Trump, you know how much he focuses on that. And he’s going to need something to change it and in today’s media landscape, absent a big mistake by one or the other, this is the only way.”

Christie added that Trump would “convince himself” of his ability to deliver a knockout performance against Harris in a debate, even after missing that chance already.

Former DNC chair <a rel=«nofollow» target="_blank" href=«https://twitter.com/donnabrazile?ref_src=» https:>@DonnaBrazile

tells <a rel=«nofollow» target="_blank" href=«https://twitter.com/GStephanopoulos?ref_src=» https:>@GStephanopoulos that Trump is “incapable of staying on message.”

“He has not pivoted to the middle, he’s not talking to