The much-awaited presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is over.
Here are some early thoughts from the session at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Harris opened by announcing a $50,000 tax deduction for small businesses. Trump opened by discussing his tariff proposal and “make other countries pay us back for everything we’ve done for them.”
If the Trump campaign hoped that the candidate would remain on message during the debate … that went out the window after those opening comments.
Harris saw an opening and continued to jab at the former president. “You’re going to hear lies, grievances and name-calling. Because Donald Trump has no plan for you.”
Trump seemed to take the bait.
- Abortion. “States execute babies after birth. Through the genius of six Supreme Court justices, we got rid of Roe v. Wade. Every legal scholar, all of them wanted issue of abortion brought back to states.”
- Immgration. “Immigrants are taking over Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colo.”
- Migrant Crime.
- Pets Being Eaten By Immigrants.
The former President tried to change the temperature by accusing Harris of causing the border crisis.
When asked if he regrets anything about his actions from January 6, 2021, Trump dodged the question and continued to talk about immigration. When pressed by moderator David Muir, Trump said he had nothing to do with it and that he offered Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi more than 10,000 troops and she refused to accept.
Harris responded by saying that her campaign “isn’t going back” to those days of chaos and the approach of attacking the foundations of our democracy because he didn’t like the outcome.
Trump says Charlottesville story has been debunked by Fox News analysts and switches gears again to immigration, calling Biden and Harris to sign an executive order to close the border.
The former President also told Muir that his comment about ‘losing the election by a whisker’ was said sarcastically.
Early Thoughts
It is clear to this writer that when Donald Trump goes off-script, he is not winning votes with those who are still looking to make their decision. Harris spent most of her debate time talking about America’s future. Trump spent most of his time talking about America’s demise.
More to come on Wednesday.
One Response
I feel bad for Trump’s campaign staff. They’re doing everything possible to give Trump a chance at winning, but Trump is fixated on echoing racist lies that migrants are eating pets.