Aaron Kall

Debating The Donald Aaron Kall

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump entered the 2016 election race with no political or debate experience. He had extremely low expectations heading into his first primary debate hosted by Fox News in Cleveland, Ohio on August 6, 2015. Trump took advantage of this and easily won the first debate, which catapulted him to permanent frontrunner status and he never looked back. He participated in ten additional primary debates, while choosing to boycott the event in Des Moines, Iowa in January of 2016. Nearly 200 million viewers watched the GOP primary debates and Trump's reality television star background played a major role in this phenomenon. In "Debating The Donald", a dozen debate experts from around the United States analyze Trump's performances in the primary debates. They discuss what techniques were employed by the candidate to yield successful results. Finally, the authors predict how style and content from Trump's primary debates will influence his three general election showdowns with Hillary Clinton in the fall. The first Trump-Clinton debate at Hofstra University in New York will have a Super Bowl-like atmosphere and will truly be must-see TV.