The much-anticipated debate in Philadelphia between Vice President Kamala Harris and ex-President Donald Trump did live up to its billing, but Harris will feel more confident going into the next one as she set several traps that her opponent fell into multiple times.
Harris exaggerated the amount of money Trump received from his father, which he refuted by expressing his wish to have received $400 million. She also mentioned the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, admitting she hadn’t read it herself. She suggested that she attend a Trump rally to witness people leaving out of boredom, to which Trump responded by claiming that no one had attended Harris’s rallies.
He then inaccurately brought up a viral story about migrants eating pets in southwest Ohio, to which she sarcastically responded, “Talk about extreme!”
In contrast to Joe Biden’s previous performance, Harris was the aggressor in the debate, delivering effective talking points without getting stuck in the details of her record and agenda.
Trump struggled to make his case consistently and often found himself rebutting Harris rather than focusing on his preferred talking points, such as Harris’s shift away from progressive ideas and her association with Biden’s unpopular presidency.
Harris then strategically brought up past facts from the Trump administration, which set off her opponent, and used his responses to persuade voters to move away from the Trump era.
While some Trump supporters questioned the moderators for not pressing his opponent on these issues, Trump himself contradicted this line of attack by claiming a supposed rift between Biden and Harris, stating that “he hates her.”
Throughout the debate, there was a back-and-forth dynamic in which the Vice President effectively executed her strategy while Trump struggled to focus on his intended messages consistently.
After the debate, most of Trump’s backers admitted that the candidate spent considerable time addressing Harris, but some believed it had been successful.
Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who assisted in preparing Trump for the debate, mentioned that Trump had spoken longer than the vice president, utilised his time more effectively, and “held the ball” during the debate.
After having difficulty diverting attention from Biden’s mishap in June, Democrats found cause for celebration on Tuesday night.
“North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper expressed euphoria, chuckling when asked if he felt better than he did in Atlanta.”
“California Rep. Nanette Barragan conveyed in a text message that she believes Trump was unprepared to face her, citing evidence and facts.”