Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump traded harsh insults for more than 90 minutes Tuesday in Philadelphia, meeting for the first time during a debate at the National Constitution Center.
The forum came at a crucial time: 56 days before the Nov. 5 election, which polls show is virtually tied. Voters in some counties in Pennsylvania, the key state with the most delegates, will begin casting ballots next week under early voting rules, with other states to follow suit in the days afterward. The campaigns have not agreed to any other debates so far, though that could change.
Below are some conclusions:
Trump, Trump and more Trump
This debate was about Trump. His lies, his temper. His criminal trials. His refusal, once again, to admit that he lost the 2020 election or acknowledge his role in inciting the January 6 insurrection. His incendiary language about immigrants. His personality, which has dominated American politics for more than eight years.
On almost every occasion, both Harris and Trump spoke about whether Trump was telling the truth (he made false statements about the legality of abortion in some states after birth and about legal immigrants from Haiti eating pets, among many others) or whether he was fit for office. The focus on Trump often overshadowed tough questions directed at Harris, who has flip-flopped on issues like fracking and eliminating private health insurance.
Normally, elections are a referendum on the party in power, but Democrats have been trying to pull off something unusual in politics by turning this one into a referendum on Trump, a Republican. President Biden’s failure to bring charges against Trump in the June debate was a major reason Democrats pressured him to drop out of the race in July.
Polls show anxiety about the economy and fears about the direction of the country overall, which would normally mean the end of the party in the White House. Democrats believe the anti-Trump vote is large enough to win a close election despite those concerns.
Trump has largely played into the Democrats' strategy because he is so eager to be the center of attention. That's why even questions about Harris and the Biden administration's failures ended with Trump defending his own record.
Harris's presentation will not be televised
Voters don’t know Harris well. Nearly 3 in 10 said they needed to know more about her, compared with 1 in 10 who said they needed to know more about Trump, according to a New York Times/Siena poll released over the weekend.
By focusing so much on Trump, Harris may have sacrificed an opportunity. Viewers heard early on that she had been raised in a middle-class home, but it wasn’t until closing statements, when many voters might have been asleep, that she talked about her history as a prosecutor in California.
He laid out some of his policy ideas, including an economic plan that would offer money to first-time homebuyers. But his vision, to the extent he articulated it, revolved around “turning the page” on Trump and ending the divisiveness of the Trump era.
Trump appeals to the bases
Trump has an opportunity to broaden his base, given widespread discontent over inflation and, to a lesser extent, immigration. But he chose instead to speak to his most diehard supporters, echoing the kind of language he typically uses at rallies.
Polls show Trump is ahead on immigration, but he may have alienated some voters with his over-the-top rhetoric, disrupting a debate on the economy, another issue where he could have scored points. “They are coming in violently,” he said of immigrants. “They are destroying our country. They are dangerous, they are at an all-time high crime rate, and we have to get them out.”
He falsely claimed that everyone in the country wanted abortion to be left to the states, even though polls show a majority of Americans wanted to preserve abortion rights. To back up his denial that he praised the white nationalists who stormed Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 as “very fine people,” he cited friendly Fox News personalities.
“That story has been, as you would say, debunked,” Trump said. “Laura Ingraham, Sean, Hannity, Jesse, all those people, they covered it.”
To counter Harris's claim that world leaders are laughing at him, he cited Viktor Orban, the far-right leader from Hungary who has been adopted by the Make America Great Again movement.
“They call him ‘strongman’ because he’s a tough guy,” Trump said. “He said, ‘Why is the whole world blowing up?’ Three years ago, he wasn’t. Why is he blowing up? He said, ‘Because they need Trump back as president.’”
Harris provokes Trump
Harris was clearly trying to get on Trump's nerves, and she succeeded. He scowled for much of the evening. She smirked. He didn't look at her.
Harris brought up insults she knew would infuriate Trump. She invited spectators to attend one of her rallies and then mocked him for taking up bizarre topics and conspiracies, accusing him of ignoring the needs of ordinary people. But what really ticked him off was when she said people leave rallies early out of boredom.
“People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest, most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” he replied. “That’s because people want their country back.”
He then repeated a false insult about resettled Haitian immigrants stealing people's pets to eat them.
The exchange came during a question-and-answer session that could have been a win for Trump. It was about Harris’s role in curbing migration, something he and other Republicans have repeatedly criticized. But Trump barely had time to criticize her record.
This was a different debate than Biden-Trump
The June debate between Trump and Biden changed the course of history. Biden seemed bewildered, prompting Democrats to call for him to drop out of the race.
It's unlikely to have the same effect this time. Trump took shots at Harris over the economy, the botched Afghanistan withdrawal and immigration, though she dodged some questions, made multiple false claims and missed some opportunities.
Harris launched attacks on Trump that Biden left out, including Trump's admiration for dictators, his promise to suspend the Constitution, his capacity for divisiveness and his criminal record.
The race is essentially tied in the polls and is likely to remain close until Election Day.
