Photo: Win McNamee / Getty Images News / Getty Images
By Chris Ryan
If you're explaining, you're losing.
It's a tried and tested principle in politics, and life.
On Tuesday night in Philadelphia, former President Donald J. Trump was doing a lot of explaining.
In the debate he tried to explain January 6th, his position on abortion and how Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Ohio (a false claim).
After the debate he tried to explain away in the spin room a performance that was more reminiscent of a rambling nursing home resident who had too many strawberry daiquiris, than the next President of the United States.
Today on Fox & Friends he explained that, "I don't know that I want to do another debate."
That's a losers mentality, but an understandable perspective.
It's one thing to get knocked out in a fight by a superior opponent, it's quite another to spend 90-minutes punching yourself in the face.
In 2016, I watched Donald Trump humiliate opponent after opponent.
Poor Jeb, Ted, Marco, and John spent all their debate time explaining how Donald was lying or exaggerating about their records.
Meanwhile 'Teflon Don' deflected and attacked his way to the Presidency.
Fast forward to 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris implemented a similar strategy.
She had no intention to explain anything. Policy details, the Biden record, foreign policy follies, failure at the border were all going to be ignored.
Harris would bob and weave her way through this.
She also was fortunate that her opponent would blindly take the bait despite the steak, Heinz ketchup, net, metal apparatus also bearing the sign, "THIS IS A TRAP, DON'T RESPOND!"
The predator has become the prey.
Chris Ryan is the host of New Hampshire Today on iHeart NH's news/talk stations from 6-9a weekdays. His "Trail Bites" column drops each Wednesday afternoon.