In her first debate, Vice President Kamala Harris was perfectly at ease defending her vision of the United States and she completely destabilized Donald Trump, who relied on false assertions while showing his frustration.
“The Democratic candidate exuded confidence, firmness and control. Placed more often on the defensive, Donald Trump could only resort to lies,” analyzed Luc Laliberté, a specialist in American politics.
Kamala Harris’ performance couldn’t have been more out of step with that of current President Joe Biden last June. Facing Donald Trump, the 81-year-old appeared confused and weakened, to the point where he ended his re-election campaign about a month later.
The US Vice President instead engaged in a fierce fight with the Republican. Before that, they had never spoken to each other, according to AFP.
Harris demolished her rival and came out the big winner, Laliberté said bluntly. It was a highly anticipated debate, with no audience or notes, held in Philadelphia, in the crucial state of Pennsylvania.
Not for Trump to decide
Questioned in the first minutes on the issue of abortion, Kamala Harris denounced the “restrictions on abortion imposed by Trump” in a passionate and heartfelt statement.
Photo AFP
“You don’t have to abandon your faith or your deeply held beliefs to agree that the government and Donald Trump should definitely not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said confidently.
For his part, Trump repeated one of his usual falsehoods, saying that abortions were performed in the ninth month of pregnancy.
Then he stumbled when asked by the ABC reporter if he would veto a national abortion ban. The billionaire appeared angry.
AFP
With the microphones off, Harris often used her facial expressions to communicate her thoughts about Trump’s responses, particularly when he lied or exaggerated, said Frédérick Gagnon, a political science professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
Not the same vision
The Biden administration’s economic record was the first topic the vice president was asked about.
“She established from the outset that her plan contrasts with Trump’s: she will help the middle class with government aid to small and medium-sized businesses, she will propose new tax cuts for billionaires,” summarized Mr. Gagnon, who is also director of the Observatory on the United States.
Harris has risen to the challenge of providing more details about her plans, the political scientist said.
Donald Trump, frustrated, instead resorted to several astonishing assertions during the evening: “He distorts reality and invents his data when necessary,” deplored Luc Laliberté.
The moderators had to correct his remarks several times.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are neck and neck in voting intentions, making the outcome of the US election very difficult to predict.
Joe Biden’s withdrawal had given the Democratic campaign a new lease of life. “But Kamala Harris seemed to have reached a certain plateau in the last few days,” Gagnon explained.
Every vote counts
Yesterday’s debate was in some ways a last big opportunity for the Democrat to convince undecided voters and independents to vote for her.
Because the result of the presidential election on November 5 will be decided by a handful of votes in key states, said Professor Frédérick Gagnon.
“Even a gain of one or two percentage points in voting intentions would already make a difference,” he said.
He believes that voters who discovered Harris last night can hardly conclude that she matches the caricature Trump has made of her so far.
