CNN anchor warns Harris in for difficult debate with Trump: 'He's very persistent'

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CNN anchor warns Harris in for difficult debate with Trump: 'He's very persistent'

CNN host Abby Phillip warned Vice President Kamala Harris that she could not afford to ignore former President Trump on stage in a conversation about the debate Thursday night.

CNN host Abby Phillip warned Vice President Kamala Harris that she could not afford to ignore former President Trump on stage despite her refusal to respond to criticisms from him during a CNN interview on Thursday.

"Let's not be mistaken, Donald Trump is tall and very loud, and he's very persistent," Phillip said in a discussion Thursday night about Harris' ability to ignore Trump's criticisms while on stage with him for a debate. 

Harris refused to respond to comments that Trump made at the National Association of Black Journalists about the vice president's presentation of her racial identity during an interview with CNN's Dana Bash.

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CNN host Abby Phillip warned Vice President Kamala Harris that she could not afford to ignore former President Trump on stage. (Screenshot/CNN)

"I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black," Trump said of Harris during the July event. "So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?" 

"Same old tired playbook," Harris said when questioned about Trump's comments by Bash. "Next question, please."

Phillip was not convinced that Harris' response to that and other digs by Trump would be adequate during the debate between Trump and Harris on Sept. 10. 

"It's not going to be so easy to just say, ‘OK, let’s move on,' he's going to be right there on stage," Phillip said. 

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CNN political commentators on Phillip's panel were divided on how Harris could handle Trump on the debate stage.  (Screenshot/CNN)

CNN political commentators on Phillip's panel were divided on how Harris would counter Trump on the debate stage. 

Former National Coalitions Director for Biden-Harris 2020 Ashley Allison said that Harris should ignore Trump's comments during the debate. 

"The vice president is not very tall," Allison said of Harris. "She is a petite woman. Let him look like the bully. Let him throw out red meat and you rise above the occasion. That's why I think it was so important that she did answer the question about race, because actually that behavior is below the office of the president." 

CNN analyst David Axelrod said that Harris made the right decision in her CNN interview. 

"That behavior of Donald Trump's really does raise the question, ‘do you want this for the next four years or do you want someone who’s focused on your problems?' And I think that pivot works," Axelrod said. 

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The Harris and Trump campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.