During the most of the 90-minute debate between Trump and Harris, the former president yelled at the microphone, coming close to spitting at times as he repeatedly took the bait and was knocked off his stride.
As he painted a bleak picture of a crime-stricken America, invaded by dangerous illegal immigrants who devour pets, and threatened to be captured by an opponent he falsely referred to as a Marxist, Mr. Trump came across as irate and disorganized, in contrast to his earlier attempts to bind Ms. Harris to President Biden and make her own record.
Mr. Trump lamented, “Our country is being lost,” noting that the country’s most recent fall occurred just as he departed from the White House. We are a nation that is failing. Furthermore, that transpired 1.5 years ago. And what on earth is happening? You’re about to trigger the third world war.
His campaign has been spreading the myth that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been devouring pets, which he brought up again and again. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” he continued. “The individuals who entered. Those felines are being devoured. What’s even worse is that they’re devouring the pets of the locals.
Also, while talking about abortion, Mr. Trump made the incorrect allegation that some states with Democratic governors support the ability to “execute” kids after they are born. “Put simply, we will put the baby to death,” he declared. Infanticide is illegal in all states.
Ever since he originally announced his run for president in June 2015, Mr. Trump has tended to move at a breakneck pace, and he has frequently found an audience for his fear-mongering and demagoguging on the matter of immigrants. Both of his previous elections—2016 for the first and 2018 for the second—were determined in three swing states by less than 100,000 votes, and he didn’t change his strategy much. He mentioned “American carnage” during his 2017 inauguration speech.
After his 2020 campaign was derailed by false claims of massive election fraud and a horde of his followers stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Mr. Trump’s public remarks regarding the nation’s status have only been darker since he stepped down from office.
Though many of his remarks were recycled from his rally speeches, they took on a slightly different tone when delivered in front of a virtual audience of millions who don’t usually tune in to his campaign events at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center. And they were missing the accompanying beats that Mr. Trump attempts to give at rallies, like talking about his tenure or promising voters prosperity.
It was necessary for Mr. Trump to implicate Ms. Harris in the suffering that voters have expressed. Rather, he focused on himself while painting a grim picture of America.
On occasion, Mr. Trump did touch on his tenure in office, and he made an effort to redirect the discussion to immigration and the economy, two topics on which his advisors think he has a leg up, and polls back this up. Asking how far along in a pregnancy Ms. Harris believed abortions should be permitted (she did not respond) was a tactic he used to evade questions regarding his abortion stance and his involvement in selecting justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, which pleased his advisors. Mr. Biden’s support plummeted because he was so forceful about the disorganized pullout from Afghanistan in 2021.
“Everything that she believed three years ago and four years ago is out the window,” he criticized her for stating, highlighting her flip-flopping on beliefs. She’s about to visit my philosophy class. Actually, I was planning to mail her a MAGA cap. My philosophy class now has her. However, she would alter it if she were elected. And our nation will perish as a result. After he said, “She’s a Marxist,” he proceeded to ignore the stop sign. Her Marxist leanings are well-known. Her economics professor father is a Marxist. And she learned a lot from him.
Near the end of the debate, in his closing argument, he delivered one of his most memorable remarks when he questioned why Ms. Harris had failed to achieve all of her objectives in her three and a half years in office.
During the few meetings where Mr. Trump was instructed to prepare for debates—which his aides had eschewed the term “debate preparation sessions” in favor of “policy time”—they had drilled that argument into his head. They were hoping he would address the camera directly and inquire as to whether or not the situation was better for the people now compared to four years ago.
On the contrary, Ms. Harris largely frightened Mr. Trump by slamming his inherited wealth, criminal indictments, and legal issues, as well as by criticizing those who left his rallies early.
Unable to focus on addressing the moderators’ questions or advancing his views, he became clearly agitated and, much to his advisors’ disappointment, clumsy while attempting to counter her assaults. Things did not go swimmingly when he did answer questions. His heavily criticized performance during the 2020 coronavirus outbreak was defended, he continued to question Ms. Harris’s racial identity (she is Black), and he falsely claimed that significant election fraud had occurred.
Joining Mr. Trump in describing the country’s needs, Ms. Harris has been attempting to present an upbeat message focused on freedom, particularly reproductive freedom and economic freedom.
A bipartisan plan that would have dealt with border crossings was killed by Mr. Trump, which Ms. Harris said was a sign that the American people needed a leader who would “engage in solutions” and “actually address the problems at hand,” as she aired her criticism of him. What we have, though, in the former president, is a political figure who would rather campaign on an issue than work to resolve it.