Ian Bremmer’s Quick Take: We have all just finished watching the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Quite likely the only presidential debate we’re going to see between them before November elections, and very clearly, Harris was the winner. This wasn’t as dramatic as the Biden-Trump debate, but it was nonetheless pretty one-sided. Harris made very few mistakes. She was on message, she was disciplined. She focused on policy, she oriented questions towards topics that she wanted to discuss, and she landed punches against Trump and his unfitness in areas that she felt comfortable, whether it was on abortion, whether it was on the economy, whether it was on international issues, or on democracy.
And it’s not that Trump didn’t have points to make, but he largely didn’t make them. The only significant time that I saw a misstep that Trump was able to hit against Kamala was when she was complaining about his tariffs against China and more broadly. And, of course, these were policies that Trump put in place, which Biden stuck with and claims he’s succeeded in China, and they were Trump policies and said, well, if you want to change them, why didn’t you? And through the debate, his message was, well, if there are all these great things you wanted to do, you’ve been vice president, why haven’t you done them over the last 3.5 years? But on balance, what Trump did was lose message, lose discipline, and attack Kamala Harris in ways that seemed incoherent and all over the map from the opening question when he was asked about the economy and couldn’t stay on target on the economy instead immediately started talking about immigration when he threw in this nonsensical and false claim that immigrants, Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating household pets. When he was asked about foreign policy and said I’m loved around the world and used Hungary’s Viktor Orban as his respected character witness on and on, he seemed defensive and angry and not on message and not disciplined and was rattled by the fact that Kamala Harris was landing punches against him.
So, I’d certainly say if you were looking at this debate, in terms of who you thought actually came across as a winner, and you had uncertainty as a potential voter, in the way that Biden/Trump would have been 95%, Trump, Harris/Trump would be 80% Harris. Now, if you’re a partisan on the Harris or Trump side, it didn’t matter what was going to happen, and you’re going to say that your side won, no matter what. If you’re trying to defend Trump tomorrow on air, you’re going to say, “This was three-on-one. This was an ABC dogpile. They’re the fake news. They should be shut down.” And I suspect Trump will be saying that, both directly and with his proxies tomorrow.
But the fact is, he did not perform, and he is a 78-year-old man. He has not been particularly on point or on message in lots of his rallies recently, if you’ve watched them, or at the Economics Club in New York last week, if you watch that speech, he has vulnerabilities. And Kamala Harris, who had not been tested at this level before, this is, you know, a presidential debate, she’s the nominee., it’s the biggest spot of her life, and she gave the best performance of her vice presidency, in my view. Was she, you know, Obama in terms of masterful and soaring rhetoric? No. was she Reagan? Same, no. But was she capable of sounding presidential, sounding like a leader, and thumping Trump pretty hard? Absolutely, yes. I think this is an incredibly tight race. It’s essentially a coin flip. I think this will probably give Harris a little bit more momentum that had tapped out after the convention. But it’s probably not going to move her 2 or 3 points. It might move her half a point or a point.
It’s very, very tight. And I still think this election is very much open over the next couple months. But Harris did herself significant favors, Trump did himself none, over the last couple of hours, and that’s the news going into tomorrow. That’s my view. Best I can do. You can disagree with it, but you know, I at least try to tell you what I think is going on honestly, and I’ll talk to you all real soon.
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Kamala Harris Emerges as Clear Winner in Presidential Debate Against Donald Trump
The highly anticipated presidential debate between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump has finally taken place, and by all accounts, it was a resounding victory for Harris. In a debate that was expected to be intense and dramatic, Harris demonstrated her mastery of policy and her ability to stay focused and disciplined, landing several critical blows against Trump’s unfitness for office.
According to Ian Bremmer’s quick take, Harris’s performance was characterized by her ability to stay on message, focus on policy, and orient questions towards topics that she wanted to discuss [[1]]. She made very few mistakes and was able to effectively counter Trump’s attacks, landing punches on issues such as abortion, the economy, international relations, and democracy.
Trump, on the other hand, struggled to stay on message and was often defensive and angry throughout the debate. He launched attacks against Harris that seemed incoherent and all over the map, including a bizarre claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating household pets [[1]]. His lack of discipline and message control was palpable, and he failed to make his points effectively.
The debate was marked by a significant misstep by Trump when Harris criticized his tariffs against China. Trump responded by asking why Harris hadn’t changed the policies during her time as vice president, a line of attack that was seen as weak and ineffective [[1]].
Early polling suggests that Harris won the debate by a historically large margin, with even Trump voters acknowledging that she performed better [[3]]. This is a significant blow to Trump’s campaign, which has been struggling to regain momentum in recent weeks.
The debate was widely covered by major news outlets, with CNN and NPR providing live coverage and analysis of the event [[2]][[1]]. Their takeaways from the debate were largely in line with Bremmer’s assessment, with CNN noting that Harris “baited” Trump throughout the debate, landing several effective blows against his unfitness for office [[2]].
the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a clear victory for Harris. Her mastery of policy, discipline, and focus on message made her a formidable opponent, and her ability to land punches against Trump’s vulnerabilities has given her a significant boost in the polls. As the election draws closer, it remains to be seen how Trump will respond to this setback, but for now, it’s clear that Harris has emerged as the winner of this crucial debate.
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What strategies did Kamala Harris use to effectively counter Donald Trump’s arguments during the debate?
Kamala Harris Emerges as Clear Winner in Presidential Debate Against Donald Trump
The highly anticipated presidential debate between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump has finally taken place, and by all accounts, it was a resounding victory for Harris. In a debate that was expected to be intense and dramatic, Harris demonstrated her mastery of policy and her ability to stay focused and disciplined, landing several critical blows against Trump’s unfitness for office.
According to Ian Bremmer’s quick take, Harris’s performance was characterized by
