Stateside Stories

On the 10th September 2024, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump finally had their first debate. It had been anticipated for weeks, originally meant to be held on the 4th September but postponed by nearly a week on behalf of Trump. Americans were dismayed by this year’s Biden vs Trump debate, which seemed to be nothing more than a continuation of their 2020 spats. However, the first Harris vs Trump debate was different. Harris was cool, calm and collected, whilst Trump immediately went on the defensive. Even Republicans have admitted that this debate was not Trump’s best performance.

If this first debate is anything to go by, Trump’s chances of winning the November election could fall quite dramatically. He was favoured to win against Biden, but Harris has already proven to be a much stronger opponent. She knows how to call Trump’s bluff and does not give in to his constant baiting. If this continues, the US could easily have their first female president by January 2025. In this article I will talk abut what policy areas were discussed, how both candidates behaved and what this could mean for the future.

Immigration

One topic of debate was immigration. Trump’s stance on the matter has been crystal clear for the past eight years with his insistence that a wall should be built between the US and Mexico. On Tuesday’s debate, Trump again emphasised his anti-immigrant stance, but did so in a very bizarre way. He decided that the best way to get his point across was to parrot the strange conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s household pets. This is claim that has no evidence to support it, and Trump’s running mate JD Vance even warned him not to mention it. The claim was quickly fact-checked by the debate moderators, and Trump came across as exceptionally delusional. He also claimed that immigrants were partially responsible for the crime rate in the US going up, even though it had actually gone down. These would not be the only examples of Trump making blatantly false statements in this debate.

Abortion

Abortion has always been a controversial topic in the US, but this was heightened after the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade in 2022. Once again, Trump spread misinformation by claiming that Democrats wanted to execute babies after they were born. He also claimed that Americans supported the restrictions that have been placed on abortions, despite polls revealing that nearly two-thirds of Americans were pro-choice. Harris made the valid point that sometimes abortions need to be performed if women experience severe complications during pregnancy, and that victims of rape have suffered after abortion was banned in several states. Harris stated that the lack of reproductive care was “insulting to the women of America”, something which Trump was complacent in as he hired three of the Supreme Court judges that voted to overturn the ruling. Trump tried to claim that he supported abortion in cases of rape or life-threatening complications, but also defended the repeal of Roe v Wade, making it unclear what his stance was.

Rally sizes

Kamala Harris knew how to rile Trump up and make him go on tangents. One dig that she made was about the crowd sizes at his rallies, which she claimed were so boring that people were leaving midway through. She believed that these digs would cause Trump to go off on tangents, and she was right. Trump began to rant, claiming that Harris paid people to attend her rallies and that she wants to turn the US into Venezuela. Trump spent more time ranting about irrelevant topics than he did talking about vital issues such as inflation. He could have tied Harris to the economic issues experienced during Biden’s presidency, but did not think to link her to Biden until the very end of the debate, presenting it as an afterthought.

Trump’s criminal charges

Harris did what Biden did not think to do in June; she mentioned the 6th January 2021 Capitol Riots and the other criminal charges Trump was facing. When confronted with this, Trump took to spewing more misinformation. He repeated false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and called the FBI “corrupt”. He also claimed that the Democrats were getting undocumented immigrants to vote for them in elections, something which also has no evidence to back it up. Whenever Harris pointed out his shortcomings, Trump would be extremely defensive, shout and insult her. Trump came across as a spoiled child, and a lot less professional than Harris did.

What could this all mean?

Many now believe that the election could go to the Democrats. When Trump was facing Biden, the Republicans were set to win. Now, the tables have been turned. Many Republicans were embarrassed by Trump’s performance on Tuesday and believe that he has let himself down. On the other hand, many previously undecided voters have been swayed by Harris. One thing that may have helped her is an endorsement from Taylor Swift. She made a statement of support for Harris, and signed it “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady” in reference to comment Trump’s running mate JD Vance made about the average Democrat voter. Swift is a very influential figure, and it is believed that 300,000 people have visited the voter registration site after her social media post. If Harris continues to perform well in debates and continues to gain celebrity endorsements, things will look very good for her.