The Harris-Trump debate
If the burning date of November 7th 2024 is in the spotlight, the outcome of the election is more than uncertain. Kamala Harris representing the Democrat party and Donald Trump representing the Republican party for the third time in a row both understood the importance of the debate for the electorate. The pre-election debate was their first official confrontation. For one hour and a half, they debated on subjects such as abortion, immigration and housing under the scrutiny of thousands of viewers.
To watch the full debate: Harris vs. Trump in 2024 ABC News Presidential Debate
The economy
Inflation is the first and most important issue for Americans right now and both candidates were expected to tackle it. Kamala Harris claimed that she was the only one with a real programme. Her goal is to improve the lives of middle-class families, as some of them need help to raise their children. She also plans to reduce housing prices. She insisted on putting in place an “opportunity economy”, which includes a tax cut for these families. Besides, in order to dynamise the economy, she plans to give 50,000 $ to help small businesses to start and level up. By emphasizing her background and the fact that she comes from a middle-class family raised by a single mother, she places herself in total opposition to Trump. She accuses him of wanting to implement taxes in favor of billionaires and big companies.
On the other hand, Donald Trump chose to focus on his past term (2016-2020), during which, according to him he “created one of the greatest economies in the history of our country, I’ll do it again and even better”. Moreover, he added that his plan to make money and hence tackle inflation was to wait for other countries to pay the United States back for what they have done for the world during 75 years. But when asked what his plan to get the country back on track is, he says: “I have concepts of a plan, I am not president right now”. He wants to remain mysterious while trying to convince the electorate that he knows what he’s doing, more than Kamala Harris does.
The question of abortion
Abortion was a theme eagerly awaited in this debate, after judges of the Supreme Court removed the right to abortion at the federal level two years ago, leading to its limitation or even abolition in some states. The decision to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling, which made abortion rights a federal law was highly criticized in the United States and all around the world. Two visions of the abortion right clashed during the debate. According to Kamala Harris, Donald Trump is directly responsible for this change of law as he himself appointed the three judges behind it. Moreover she claims that if he is elected again, he will even go further and abolish the right to abortion at the federal level. She places herself as the protector of women and of IVF.
Donald Trump has a more hesitant position regarding the right to abortion. Knowing that this is a sensitive issue with Americans, most of whom support this right, he doesn’t want to give the electorate a reason to change sides. So he remains cautious, without making any assertions. On the contrary, he’s opting for attack instead. He declared “The mother decides she doesn’t want the baby, you execute, that’s not an abortion, that’s an execution and nobody wants that”. He is in fact accusing Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz, her vice-presidential candidate, to support the execution of babies once they are born. This statement reinforce what we already know about his provocative character, whose almost grotesque rhetoric is designed to provoke a reaction among the public.
Fake news, even at the highest level of American politics
While talking about the burning question of immigration and especially illegal immigration, Donald Trump relayed a well known fake news that has been spreading throughout the social media lately: “In Springfield they’re eating the dogs, the people who came in they’re eating the cats.” By relaying this fake news on live broadcast, we find Donald Trump where we expected him to be, in the spectacle, the sensational. He wants to shock the audience to make them adhere to his vision.
January 6th 2021: the assault against the U.S capitol
The subject was broached for the first time by the debate moderators. As a reminder, on January 6th, 2021, hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump, loser of the November 2020 presidential election, invaded the Capitol, interrupting Joe Biden’s certification vote. Kamala Harris did not hesitate to say that he encouraged “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War” because he didn’t like the outcome of the election. When asked if he had any regrets regarding the assault, Donald Trump declared yet again that he was not responsible for it. A commission of inquiry was even set up to try the supporters and instigators of the attack, judgments are currently in progress.
Who won the debate according to the media ?
Several media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal or The Washington Post highlighted the fact that Kamala Harris destabilized Donald Trump many times during the debate, they even tend to say that she won it. It seems that she and her team did identify the provocative character of Donald Trump, as she was well prepared to attack him on his weaknesses and his program. However, media such as The New-York Times observed that Donald Trump still has a strong support across the United States, and that many voters still do not know enough about Kamala Harris to really decide.
We can see that Kamala Harris, throughout her responses and her body language, places herself as the adult, the most adequate to be the next president of the United States compared to Donald Trump. Her body language really shows how childish and out of touch she thinks Donald Trump is, especially when he multiples personal attacks towards her or her father who is “a marxist professor in economy”.
To know more about Kamala Harris and her story : CARNET DE CAMPAGNE: KAMALA HARRIS, WE ARE NOT GOING BACK
On the other hand, if Donald Trump appears quite unmoved to Kamala Harris’ attacks on the issues of abortion or the 6 January 2021 attack, he is true to his debating habits: provocative and mocking, he favors personal attacks and fake news rather than elaborating on the issues at hand. According to Donald Trump, he won the debate “by a lot”.
What conclusion can we make?
Even though Kamala Harris is designated by many as the winner of the debate, this presidential election is once again a neck-to-neck race. In many swing states, where the political orientation of the major electors is uncertain with each new presidential election, the Democratic and Republican parties are neck-to-neck. So, there is a lot at stake, and every public appearance and speech counts. The outcome of the American presidential election will remain uncertain until the very end. All we can do is wait until November 7th.
