THE STORY
PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris set several traps for Donald Trump in Tuesday’s ABC News presidential debate and the former president found himself stepping in them most of the night.
Sources say Trump has been annoyed that Biden withdrew from the 2024 race and Tuesday night he found out how much tougher his new rival is going to be. Harris delivered aggressive attacks and coherent rebuttals for over 90 minutes as Trump was left playing defense.
On the topic of the economy, Harris overstated how much money Trump was given by his father, prompting the former president to correct her. “I wasn’t given $400 million,” he said. “I wish I was.”
However, she got under Trump’s skin the most when she looked directly into the camera and asked viewers to attend one of Trump’s rallies, saying people leave his events early because they are bored and tired. This clearly irritated Trump, who then went on a rant about the false story of migrants eating live pets in southwest Ohio.
“People don’t leave my rallies,” he said. “We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats,” he said.
“Talk about extreme!” said Harris, with a laugh.
For over 90 minutes, Harris landed punch after punch and managed to turn questions about her record back around to Trump’s record and his unfitness for office.
Harris’ strategy was clear as she reminded voters of what Democrats have called “Trump amnesia” from his four years in office. Trump’s allies had wanted him to stick to policy points and say Harris has had nearly four years to implement the policies she is touting. However, he seemed angry and not focused, even claiming with no evidence that President Joe Biden hates her.
I’ll give you a little secret — he hates her,” he said.
STEPHEN’S OUTLOOK
Harris attempt at baiting Trump was widely known before the debate began. Her campaign’s strategy worked flawlessly as it left the former president looking angry and irritated all night. In several of his answers, he brought up Biden’s exit from the race and at one point, called for the debate to stop during a discussion about immigration.
Trump spent one of his final answers before closing statements talking about a report from House Republicans on financial payments to Biden family members despite no credible evidence to support the claims.
“You’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me,” Harris told him.
Harris was strategic as she used her skills as a prosecutor to her advantage. When Trump rebutted her answers to focus on her 2020 views, the Vice President turned the answer into an answer on her views on fracking and guns.
“Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away,” she told Trump. “Stop with the continuous lying about this stuff.”
After the debate, both campaigns were asked about the possibility of a second debate between the pair. The Harris campaign in a statement said they would be fine with another face off. Meanwhile, on Fox News, Trump claimed he won the debate and said he would not do another one unless “it is on a fair network”.
With 54 days until Election Day and the polls showing a tight race, did Harris do enough to sway the voters in the middle or undecided voters? The polls in the coming days and weeks will tell the story. Did Trump do enough to close the gender gap he has with Harris among women? Probably not.
WHAT REPUBLICANS ARE SAYING
On Fox News, Laura Ingraham said Harris “moved the needle” on the betting markets but several of Trump’s allies claim the ABC News moderators, David Muir and Lindsey Davis, were biased against him. Other Republicans described Trump as coming off as “angry” as Harris pushed his buttons.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed victory in the Republican spin room following the debate, saying it was his best debate performance but declined to commit to a second debate.
“The polls are very good. I felt very good about it,” he said.
