Kamala Harris dogwalks Trump
She put on a debate masterclass, triggering Donald into a tailspin.
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Kamala Harris walked right onto that stage in Philadelphia last night, approached Donald Trump as he tried to slink away behind his podium, and shook his hand.
That subtle show of dominance (watch it below) set the tone for a debate performance from the Democratic nominee that was everything Democrats could’ve hoped for and then some.
After a June debate that left me feeling catatonic and made the terrifying prospect of a second Trump presidency more palpable than ever, last night served as a morale-boosting reminder that he’s very beatable — especially considering who he’s up against now.
Kamala Harris won and did so convincingly. And a frazzled Trump doesn’t seem to have answers.
Trump was terrible
Trump started the debate off calmly, but it didn’t last long. Things really started slipping for him after Harris hit him where it hurts by bringing up the fact that his fans are in the habit of leaving his rallies early.
The facial expressions Harris made as Trump responded by spewing a bunch of angry lies were priceless. (Watch below.)
Trump was off balance the rest of the night. He threw JD Vance under the bus while serving up a word salad about his views on abortion. He defended his call decades ago for a group of Black teens to be executed for a crime they did not commit by insisting “a lot of people agreed with me.” He repeatedly refused to answer a question about whether he wants Ukraine or Russia to win the war his dictator buddy started, though he did at one point suggest disconcertingly that Putin might nuke the United States.
One of Trump’s worst moments came during the healthcare discussion. Asked by ABC moderator Linsey Davis if he’s developed any sort of plan over the past nine years, Trump made clear that he still hasn’t, lamely saying that “I have concepts of a plan.” (Watch below.)
Trump was so bad that even Fox News couldn’t sugarcoat it, and CNN’s post-debate panel was openly talking about his obvious decline. And while some of Trump’s troubles were self-inflicted, Harris deserves a lot of credit for masterfully dogwalking him all over the stage.
Harris was great
In addition to triggering Trump over crowd size, Harris pulled no punches during the foreign affairs portion of the debate, saying “world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump” and military leaders think he’s “a disgrace.”
Trump then played right into Harris’s hands by touting his endorsement from Hungarian strongman Victor Orban. (Watch below.)
Trump’s unhinged demeanor stood in start contrast to Harris’s poise and mastery of details. One notable example came when Harris responded to Trump’s ridiculous effort to blame Nancy Pelosi for January 6 by explaining why his conduct that day should disqualify him from ever holding office again.
“Let’s turn the page on this,” she said. (Watch below.)
Harris also landed a number of memorable lines, such as responding to Trump’s lies about the 2020 election by pointing out that “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people” and reminding him at another point while he was attacking President Biden that “you’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me.”
During the final minutes of the debate, Harris was landing so many blows on Trump that his body language gave away the game. As she made a case that she represents “a new generation of leadership for our country” and a more optimistic vision for the nation, all a visibly defeated Trump could do was hang his head and shake it. (Watch below.)
Harris took it to Trump unlike anybody else who has ever debated him, and it didn’t hurt that the ABC moderators did a great job fact-checking some of the orange menace’s most egregious lies.
This is how you moderate a Trump debate
CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper took a lot of heat for letting Trump lie with impunity back in June. But ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis took a very different and much more responsible approach.
Davis responded to Trump’s lies about abortion by correcting him, saying “there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.” Muir fact-checked Trump’s lies about crime, which provided an opening for Harris to talk about the myriad of criminal charges he faces, his felony conviction, and the fact he’s been found liable for sexual assault. Perhaps most memorably, Muir rebuked Trump when he spread debunked conspiracy theories from the fringes of the internet about migrants in Ohio stealing and eating pets.
“Talk about extreme!” Harris said. (Watch that sequence below.)
Since Trump’s performance was indefensible on the merits, his surrogates on the post-debate news shows attacked the moderators for daring to call out him out. But that, of course, is loser talk.
Trump knows he bombed
CNN’s snap poll showed that Harris not only ran away with debate but surpassed expectations. And while Trump insisted to anyone who would listen afterward that he was actually the winner, he displayed some recognition of his defeat by showing up in the spin room and making his case with obviously imaginary polls.
“The polls are indicating that we got 90 percent, 60 percent, 72 percent, 71 percent, and 89 percent,” Trump claimed, prompting a reporter to yell, “Where are you getting these numbers from?” (Watch below.)
As reassuring as last night was, there’s no doubt that the race remains tight and is likely to remain so right up until November 5. We won’t be able to relax. But if there were any lingering doubts about Harris’s ability to go toe to toe with Trump, they’re gone.
Harris won on substance and style and made Trump seem like the beta to her alpha. But don’t take it from me — take it from Brit Hume. (Watch below.)
Those are my two cents, but I’m eager to hear what my dear readers have to say. Is there any part of my debate assessment you disagree with? Sound off in the comments and let’s talk about it.
Harris won the debate, hands down! Trump was mostly confused, spewing his usual unhinged mixed word salads which made little sense!
My favorite part was when Harris said that Trump nixed the bi-partisan immigration bill because he didn’t want to solve the issue, plus he has boring rallies and people leave early!
So what does Trump do? He goes on a two minute winded rant about how his rallies are the most entertaining, and how Harris has to bus in her audience and pay for them to show up. Nothing about Immigration or the bill he nixed.
This just goes to show how inept and incompetent this man truly is and what his priorities are in life!….:)
Her commanding presence from the start put him on the defense, and it went downhill for him from there. She is much more poised and confident and articulate and compelling than he could ever be. It is time to move on from the Trump era, and she made a strong case for that. Fingers cross moving toward the election.