Unlike political conventions, Tuesday’s debate is unscripted and unpredictable

Unlike political conventions, Tuesday’s debate is unscripted and unpredictable

Unlike political conventions, Tuesday's debate is unscripted and unpredictable

It’s hard to imagine a presidential debate with more at stake than the one Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will engage in tonight. The last debate between Trump and President Joe Biden was so consequential it knocked Biden out of the race.

“I am ready to watch my future president take the stage and give a very compelling vision for this country,” Harris supporter and campaign surrogate Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said this week. “America will see their next president in Kamala Harris and will hear a vision for America where people can see themselves really as a part of it and they will hear Donald Trump talk about himself. They will hear Donald Trump be defensive.”

Harris is expected to attack Trump about “Project 2025,” which Trump disavows any connection to, and his stand on abortion. Trump says he does not support a federal ban on abortion, but Harris will likely try to raise doubts about that.

“I’ll let President Trump speak for himself. President Trump is the best communicator of his message,” RNC Strategic Communications Director Tommy Pigott told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS this week. “But again Democrats have been lying about President Trump’s position on this issue. He has been clear he will not sign a national abortion ban.”

Trump is expected to direct attacks on Harris regarding inflation, the economy and immigration while tying her to the policies of the Biden-Harris administration.

“President Trump is going to stay focused on his vision,” Pigotts says, “while also calling out Kamala Harris for the fact she has a very dangerously liberal record and a long record at that at failing the American people. Of supporting the most radical policies out there.”

You can see the debate live tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC News and 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.