CNN's Jake Tapper: 'Not overblown' to call debate the 'biggest moment' in Harris' career

The ABC News Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump is "the biggest moment of her political life," according to CNN’s Jake Tapper.

With the race tightening in swing states, "The Lead" host suggested Monday the debate could make or break Harris’ campaign.

"Let me say, it‘s not overblown to say this is the biggest moment of her political life," Tapper said. "It‘s an incredibly consequential one, and there‘s still so much that people don‘t know about her, voters don‘t know."

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He cited a New York Times/Siena College poll that showed 28% of likely voters felt they needed to learn more about Harris to consider their vote. Tapper argued the debate could be seen as a way to introduce Harris to them.

"It’s no doubt that Kamala Harris has a much steeper ceiling to clear than Donald Trump has to," former Obama campaign adviser Ameshia Cross acknowledged.

"She's in the spotlight, this is going to be her night and she has a lot more of a steep hill to climb than Donald Trump does," she added. 

The NYT poll also found 48% of likely voters supported Trump compared to 47% of voters who supported Harris. In addition, 60% of voters indicated they would like to see a major change from the policies of Biden. Only 25% of respondents said Harris would represent that kind of change, while 53% believe that Trump would.

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Despite polls showing a close race between Trump and Harris, the vice president has been avoiding the media. Harris finally gave her first official interview as the Democratic presidential candidate to CNN at the end of August, more than five weeks after President Biden dropped out of the race.

She has yet to give a formal press conference.

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Fox News' Michael Lee contributed to this report.