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Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Share One Big Problem

Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona.
Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Have the Same Big Problem: Kamala Harris – as has been documented many times on these digital pages for several months now – does not have what it takes to become the President of the United States.

She has no chance of being president – not if Joe Biden decides to forget about 2024 or in the future – unless she makes some major changes in how she operates. 

One of the big reasons she won’t make it is really simple: she is often unprepared for the moment and does not know her policy briefs, and looks like a total trainwreck.

Indeed, she has been caught countless times being woefully unprepared for public speaking engagements or does not have general knowledge about the issue she is supposed to speak about.

This is unacceptable, as she is next in line for the highest office in the world. 

She often looks unready and falls back on strange word-salad statements and that strange laugh that makes me shake. 

As my colleague Harisson Kass pointed out this week: 

“Harris ‘refused to do the kind of preparation that you need to do before going public on a hardcore policy matter. And then she became incensed and outraged when things wouldn’t go the way she thought they were supposed to.’ The staffer said “there was a lot of magical thinking.'”

You can read his full comments here – he is tough, but for a reason. 

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris Have the Same Issue 

However, as we all know, in Washington, a politician being unprepared is not abnormal.

In fact, former-President Donald Trump suffered from the same problem repeatedly while in office and to this day. This was a common complaint during the Trump years, and I believe it to be true. 

As I press on in writing my book on Donald Trump, I came across this interesting nugget worth mentioning as explained to me by a former Senior White Offical Trump official who spoke to me on background:

“Many times when we would discuss issues with President Trump, it was very clear he never read the brief or had any clue what we were talking about. 

For example, if we were talking about a pressing national security issue involving a specific country, it was pretty clear he had no idea what capabilities that nation had nor where it was geographically. His comments often reflected a pure lack of knowledge that was downright scary. Heck, this was the guy who thought we could nuke North Korea and deny it. That should make you worried for sure.” 

A 2020 Donald Trump campaign official said the same thing but focused his comments to me on domestic matters:

“I was always under the impression that any written material given to President Trump on the big domestic policy issues of the day was never read. I always worried that if we had some crisis, his lack of preparation would be a huge problem.” 

Indeed, it seems a lack of preparation in the Oval Office impacts both Democrats and Republicans. That is sad. 

Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) serves as President and CEO of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank. He has held senior positions at the Center for the National Interest, the Heritage Foundation, the Potomac Foundation, and many other think tanks and academic institutions focused on defense issues. He served on the Russia task force for U.S. Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz and in a similar task force in the John Hay Initiative. His ideas have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN, CNBC, and many other outlets across the political spectrum. He holds a graduate degree in International Relations from Harvard University and is the author of The Tao of A2/AD, a study of Chinese military modernization. Kazianis also has a background in defense journalism, having served as Editor-In-Chief at The Diplomat and Executive Editor for the National Interest.

Written By

Harry J. Kazianis (@Grecianformula) is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive and serves as President and CEO of Rogue States Project, a bipartisan national security think tank. He has held senior positions at the Center for the National Interest, the Heritage Foundation, the Potomac Foundation, and many other think tanks and academic institutions focused on defense issues. He served on the Russia task force for U.S. Presidential Candidate Senator Ted Cruz, and in a similar task force in the John Hay Initiative. His ideas have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, CNN, CNBC, and many other outlets across the political spectrum. He holds a graduate degree in International Relations from Harvard University and is the author of The Tao of A2/AD, a study of Chinese military modernization. Kazianis also has a background in defense journalism, having served as Editor-In-Chief at The Diplomat and Executive Editor for the National Interest.

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