The first and possibly only presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is over, and Trump is probably wishing for a do-over. It wasn’t so much that Kamala destroyed Trump, though she did. Trump was his own worst enemy, unable to keep from taking the bait about the crowd size of his rallies and Haitians eating people’s cats and dogs in Ohio. After nine years of condemning the Affordable Care Act, Trump proved unable to maintain a train of thought and told us that he’d yet to come up with an actual plan to replace it as he’s often promised. MSNBC contributor and former head of the Republican National Committee summed it up.
“He looked small, he looked withered, he looked beaten, but most importantly he looked pissed," said Michael Steele "And there’s nothing worse than a pissed bigot on a stage with a woman he can’t control.”
Harris consistently laid out her policy points, ending each turn by mentioning something about Trump’s record that he felt compelled to dispute. Whatever bait she threw out, Trump bit, ending up describing a version of his past comments, policies, or actions that didn’t comport with reality. Even those unaware of Trump’s record knew when he didn’t answer direct questions and picked up on his lies. Trump refused to say he’d sign a national abortion ban, though his running mate, J.D. Vance, said he would. He added that he and Vance hadn’t spoken about it.
Trump said after the debate that the moderators were against him. They indeed provided some embarrassing fact checks, like there was no evidence Haitians were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. When Trump said he was being sarcastic when recently suggesting he actually lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, moderator David Muir said he’d watched the video and didn’t detect any sarcasm. Republicans and right-wing media attacked the moderators as being harder on Trump than Harris. Maybe if he stopped lying (33 inaccuracies, according to CNN), he wouldn’t get fact-checked. Pundits, including some Republicans, found it hard to praise Trump’s performance.
“Ever since the crowd size comment, Kamala’s been in his head," said Tara, Palmeri, Puck News. Trump’s taking the bait and getting riled up. It’s that easy."
“Harris keeps dangling bait for Trump and he keeps burning the first 20 seconds of the response on it,” added David Weigel, Semafor.
“Trump is not doing what Harris is doing," said Saagar Enjeti, Breaking Points. "Which is dodging/pivoting from his worst sections to his best or trying to derail Kamala. Instead, he just keeps litigating each bait that Kamala throws him and ignores his own best issues,”
“You and I can scream all we want about the debate moderators, and they are actively trying to help Harris, but Trump agreed to the debate, took every bit of bait, and low information voters are watching this," Erick Erickson. His lack of discipline helps Harris,”
About 30 minutes in, something changed in Kamala Harris’ mood. She knew she was wiping the floor with Trump, with an assist from Trump himself, and she began to smile. In each of Trump’s responses he was getting more off track and she often found herself laughing.
Whatever you think of Trump, he can be funny at times, but Donald Trump was only angry, obviously not concerned at being labeled an angry, white man. Kamala wasn’t laughing with Trump but at him, which infuriated him even more.
Don’t expect this debate to have dramatically changed the needle. His supporters are filling up social media comment sections blaming the moderators, ABC, and their owners at Disney. Trump actually got five more minutes of speaking time than Harris. Why interrupt him when he’s hurting himself? The scary part isn’t that Trump was exposed as an easily manipulated man who struggled to manage his thoughts; it’s that much of America won’t care. But for now, I’m like Kamala Harris, laughing at Trump. Hopefully, I’ll still be laughing in November.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.
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