Dear Commons Community,
The debate last night between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was entertaining and filled with critical moments, most of which had Harris unhinging Trump. Media pundits generally saw Harris as the winner.
Harris opened the faceoff by marching across the stage to Trump’s lectern to shake his hand.
“Kamala Harris,” she said, introducing herself as the pair met for the first time ever. “Let’s have a good debate.”
“Nice to see you. Have fun,” the former Republican president responded.
The exchange set the tone for the 90-minute debate to come: Harris controlled the conversation at times, baiting Trump with jabs at his economic policy, his refusal to concede his 2020 election loss and even his performance at his rallies.
Trump, while measured early on, grew more annoyed as the night went on.
In her first answer, the former prosecutor said Trump’s tariffs would effectively create a sales tax on the middle class. She soon accused Trump of presiding over the worst attack on American democracy since the Civil War — the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. She charged him with telling women what they could do with their bodies. And she mocked Trump’s praise of dictators “who would eat you for lunch.”Harris effectively controlled much of the conversation with such attacks and baited Trump into responses that were at times vents, and at others, reminders of his wild rhetoric and fixation on the past.
“You did in fact lose that election,” Harris said of the 2020 race that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden but still insists he won. “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people,” she said, referring to Biden’s winning vote total.
But Harris may have got under her opponent’s skin the most when she went after his performance at his rallies, noting that people often leave early.
Growing visibly irritated, Trump insisted that his rallies were larger than hers.
A smiling Harris frequently shifted her message from Trump back to the American people.
“You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams and your needs and your desires,” Harris said. “And I’ll tell you, I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first.
Even conservatives criticized Trump’s performance.
“Let’s make no mistake. Trump had a bad night,” Fox News host Brit Hume said. “We just heard so many of the old grievances that we all know aren’t winners politically.”
“She was exquisitely well-prepared, she laid traps, and he chased every rabbit down every hole,” added former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who often appears as a commentator on ABC News.
“Whoever prepared Donald Trump should be fired. He was not good tonight at all,” Christie said.
Below are urls of takeaways of the debate as compiled by several news outlets.
I thought Harris’ best line was when discussing the war in Ukraine: “Putin would eat you (Trump) for lunch.”
In sum, Kamala smiled and was brilliant. Trump had a scowl on all night.
Tony
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The Associated Press:
https://apnews.com/article/debate-president-trump-harris-takeaways-b648ff0b9baf10d4625548e815d7cfe3
The New York Times:
The Huffington Post:
|https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-kamala-harris-debate-6-things_n_66e11d98e4b0f6ea72e30481
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