Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s false statements, lack of addressing the American people, and inability to stay on topic during his first debate against current Vice President Kamala Harris should, at the very least, concern undecided voters heading into this upcoming election.
The first 2024 Trump-Harris presidential debate was held at The National Constitution Center on Tuesday, September 10th, 2024, in Philadelphia. This was the first time Donald Trump and Kamala Harris had met ever, let alone their first meeting since Joe Biden dropped out, making Harris the democratic candidate.
According to Nielson, the debate gained 67.1 million viewers, with a large portion being undecided in their 2024 election choice. This raised the stakes, as Election Day was 55 days away at the time of this particular debate.
Topics such as the economy, abortion, immigration, foreign affairs, and racism were discussed. All are very pressing issues that the next President of The United States must be prepared to address.
In her first debate as a Presidential candidate, Harris’s strategy was highly effective. Harris did a good job of providing a clear plan for her policies, while also logically combatting Trump’s points.
Harris was more confrontational and aggressive towards Trump than expected, bringing up crowd sizes, questioning his relationships with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping, and making Trump reflect on his previous racist comments and actions with the Central Park Five. Also notable was Harris’s mentioning of Trump’s ties to “Project 2025,” which he denies any affiliation with.
Harris’s strategy clearly got under Trump’s skin, as he regularly could not focus on his own plans for his presidency. He would consistently argue what he finds to be flawed about Kamala Harris, both as a person and a politician, rather than address the questions at hand.
No matter the topic, Trump showed how highly he values immigration as an important issue, which is something his supporters typically like about him as a candidate. This, however, is very perplexing when he is discussing immigration in response to prompts about what his economic plan will be, along with other topics he dodged at the debate.
Harris by no means had a flawless debate, as her desire for a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine, despite heavy allegiance to Israel, remains a questionable stance any supporter of hers should be curious about.
While Trump is a bit too adamant about his disagreement with Harris’s performance as vice president, even going as far as to say, “she is Biden” (this is not true), this disagreement is a valid point, as there were many unaddressed issues through the Biden-Harris term, like economic struggles and the border crisis.
However, even with a valid point in this criticism of Harris, Trump chose very incorrect ways of articulating his rebuttal. False statements such as “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in” in reference to a false report about Haitian immigrants eating pet dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, and “They’re having abortions at 9 months” in reference to why he authorized the overturning of Roe v. Wade were fact-checked immediately by ABC’s debate moderators, David Muir, and Linsey Davis.
Another very concerning quote by the former president receiving a lot of news coverage was “I have a concept of a plan, I’m not president yet,” which was in response to a prompt on his healthcare plan. As a presidential candidate, it is very questionable behavior to admit that policies or plans that will be implemented are not fully developed despite running a campaign.
For a lot of individuals, the debate is not going to be a significant factor in who gets their vote. “Personally, I have had my decision made and I do not need to watch,” said Neumann student Emily Ammon.
For others, the debate was worthwhile and insightful for which decision to make. “While I didn’t watch directly, I kept up with the news and genuinely think the debate is a large political factor for my choice personally,” said Neumann senior Joe Clark.
Whether people value the debate as important or not, the combination of Donald Trump’s hate-driven tirades and Kamala Harris’s transparency with the American people made Harris have a stronger showing at this debate.
