With the election only 56 days away, the second presidential debate of the 2024 election commenced on September 10th. Since the first presidential debate on June 27th, the election has undergone an unprecedented shift: the democratic nominee Joe Biden dropped out of the election and subsequently nominated his Vice President Kamala Harris, who accepted the nomination.
The controversy behind this debate began long before it was set to take place. After Vice President Harris announced her candidacy, it became unclear whether or not former President Trump would adhere to his commitment to participate in further debates, and whether or not the previously agreed upon debate conditions would apply.
The debate was moderated by ABC News. ABC News and the candidates agreed upon a list of rules for the debate with microphone muting being of peak interest to debate watchers. The opponents accepted rules that stated “Microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate (ABC news),” However, Trump repeatedly spoke when not instructed by the moderators. Instead of abiding by the rules, the moderators consistently turned on his mic in response to his outbursts.
Over the duration of the debate, VP Harris maintained a strategic demeanor and focused on discussing her policies as a presidential candidate. She addressed many pivotal issues in the 2024 election. Notably, when asked about the Israel-Hamas war, Harris responded with “Israel has a right to defend itself. We would” she said. “How it does so matters, because it is also true, far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed; children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end. It must end immediately.”
Harris emphasized her housing policy by sharing her campaign promises.
“The values I bring to the importance of homeownership — knowing not everybody got handed $400 million on a silver platter and then filed for bankruptcy six times — is a value that I bring to my work. We are going to work with the private sector and homebuilders to increase (the housing supply) by 3 million homes by the end of my first term,” said VP Harris.
In response to VP Harris’ claim, Trump contended that he received “a fraction of that” from his father and that he “built it up into many many billions of dollars.”
In contrast to VP Harris’ performance at the debate, Trump seemed un-focused and avoided answering questions throughout the event. In response to a question about Israel-Hamas, Trump commented on Harris’ alleged animosity towards Israel,
“She hates Israel. If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now.”
When prompted by a question about abortion, Trump declared that the democratic ticket supports abortion “’in the seventh month, the eighth month, the ninth month… And probably after birth.”
This claim was immediately proven to be false by a moderator and was later included in an ABC News article fact-checking the claims made by Harris and Trump during the debate.
As soon as the debate concluded, political analysts from both sides of the political spectrum shared their analysis of the debate. The general consensus was that Trump took the bait from Harris and that Harris showed herself in a good light.
“I thought both candidates did a good job in representing a contrast between the two party’s ideas and their own platforms and I was encouraged by the fact that there weren’t that many personal attacks between the two candidates and the public could see a difference of opinion. I would be interested to see going forward if it moves voter opinions at all. We don’t know that yet, but we will soon,” said San Marcos AP government teacher Charles Clow.
According to the New York Times,
“Commentators, even Republicans, concluded that Kamala Harris had succeeded in provoking Donald Trump into veering off message.” Other sources such as Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist said,
“While Harris was able to get under Trump’s skin with her well-prepared attacks, it’s still not clear that she overwhelmingly convinced these voters to finally make up their minds from this exchange. The question now is how much she actually moved the needle. However, Trump didn’t do himself any favors by agreeing to do this debate.”
As the election approaches, the first presidential debate between Harris and Trump has further intensified public interest in the upcoming election. Both nominees addressed political policies and challenged their opponent, their performance at the debate will continue to influence voters’ perception of the candidates. With just under 2 months until the election, both parties are interested in continuing to strengthen their campaign and persuade undecided voters.
