Kamala Harris and Donald Trump finally faced off in what will likely be their only debate, and it went more or less as expected. While this debate probably won’t change the overall trajectory of the race in a major way, it did have its key moments—and not all of them went in Trump’s favor. I predicted Trump needed to perform significantly better than he did against Joe Biden, and frankly, that didn’t happen.
Let’s start with the obvious: Kamala came in prepared, and Trump, as usual, took the bait more than once. Sure, he got in some good lines and managed to score points on the economy, crime, and border security, but Kamala’s strategy was clear: provoke Trump and let him hurt himself with his own aggression.
It worked more than it should have.
Trump’s debate with Biden in June was a different story. Biden essentially lost because of his own failures—his gaffes, freeze-ups, and the infamous mumbling did him in. Trump didn’t win that debate so much as Biden lost it. But Kamala didn’t have the same weaknesses as Biden. She wasn’t a great debater by any means, but she didn’t need to be. She just needed to appear competent and presidential enough to avoid the Biden-like self-destruction.
And the moderators did a lot to help her with that. It's hard to believe that I can look at the debate tonight and feel nostalgic for the relative fairness of the CNN moderators back in June. It was shameful the way they would fact-check Trump live, but not Kamala Harris. Not even once. It was disgusting. Sadly, that's not something most viewers will care all that much about.
What we saw was a more rehearsed and disciplined Harris.
And while Trump had the opportunity to pin her down on the disastrous policies of the Biden-Harris administration, he too often allowed himself to be drawn into petty exchanges. Once again, we saw Trump’s lack of discipline on full display. He allowed Kamala to bait him on rallies, on 2020, and on the Central Park Five.
The media, of course, will praise Kamala for her performance, but that’s expected. What worries me is that Trump handed her more victories than she should have gotten. The goal for Trump was clear: make this about the issues that matter to voters. Instead, too often, he allowed Harris to steer the conversation into personal territory, where she knew she could win points with the media and her base.
In the end, Trump’s performance didn’t sink his campaign, but it didn’t help him either. This debate was a chance to win over undecideds, and I don't see how Trump did that. He started off the evening calm and cool, and then got loud and angry.
Make no mistake: Harris wasn’t outstanding, but she was better than expected, and that’s all she needed to be. If Trump doesn’t bring more focus to the final stretch of this campaign, Harris will capitalize on that.
Trump's best moment in the debate, in my opinion, was in his closing statement, when he asked the most important question of the night.
TRUMP: “Why hasn't she done it? She has been there for 3.5 years…why hasn't she done it?"#Debate2024 pic.twitter.com/BMxez749xY
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) September 11, 2024
Will that be enough?
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