The 2024 Presidential Debate: Harris Triumphs, Trump Fails Miserably in their Historical Showdown
A pivotal moment in the 2024 election, where Kamala Harris' sharp performance outshined Donald Trump's faltering responses and knocked him off balance.
She did it.
Yes folks, you heard me—Kamala Harris delivered a striking blow to Donald Trump and his faltering bid for the White House.
By all measures and accounts, Donald Trump was delivered a devastating hit to his campaign by Vice President Kamala Harris. She struck a balance between emotion and composure, offering detail with precision while embodying the stark contrast between prosecutor and felon in this presidential debate.
Before the debate, no one would have argued that Kamala Harris would do this well. Neither could anyone have predicted that the two candidates would shake hands.
Now—this article will cover multiple segments including either candidate’s performance and the most important: will the debate change the shape of the presidential race?
So, let’s start with the former president. From his optimistic point of view, he performed exceptionally well.
During the first segment on the economy, both Trump and Harris were evenly matched, and both articulated their viewpoints. It was all downhill from there. Harris hooked and cast the bait time and time again, Donald Trump got caught. Whether it was the fringe story of Haitians eating “household dogs and cats” in Springfield, Ohio—which the Republican governor Mike DeWine has since denied—or the size of Trump’s rallies, she caught him and she caught him good.
To be fair, Donald Trump was just being himself—Donald Trump. Although, maybe it wasn’t the best strategy to be the rally-esque version of himself in front of 67.1 million Americans.1 He couldn’t even capitalize on the economy or immigration which are arguably the two best issues for Republicans. Every time a question was asked, Trump would either lie or devolve into unscripted rants that were not policy-based.
In terms of mental acuity and competency, this was certainly not the Donald Trump of 2020 or 2016. And I can say comfortably, that Harris is the first presidential candidate to hold her own against Trump in a nationally televised debate. Albeit, Joe Biden's performance in the first 2020 debate against Donald Trump was certainly notable, though his second debate was more measured.
Nonetheless, I’d argue Kamala Harris effectively balanced the scales with her confident and decisive showing—the strongest among the last three Democratic presidential candidates.
When questioned about the January 6th insurrection, Trump struggled to explain his actions and failed to firmly denounce the events of that tragic day.2 Similarly, when asked if he would accept the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, he was unable to give a clear commitment.
Without delving too much into the political scene, understand that no presidential candidate has ever refused to accept the election results or the peaceful transition of power. Trump has refused, multiple times and this should scare me, you, and every other individual who stands for democracy and the rule of law—no matter your political views.
This further promotes my solemn belief that Donald Trump is an existential threat to American democracy and its institutions and stay tuned for one of my next articles specifically on that subject.
As for Kamala Harris, she exceeded expectations with a strong debate performance, surpassing the tempered predictions that some people had about her. Even, Republicans admitted that she performed well vis-à-vis Trump.
Although the debate was amiss regarding policy discussion, whenever the opportunity arose, Harris was able to defend her policies, beliefs, and those of the current Biden-Harris administration.
She delivered multiple blows to Donald Trump and held her own against his incessant lying, rambling, and attacks. Trump struggled to defend his actions and rationale regarding the January 6th insurrection and his refusal to accept the 2020 election results. In fact, over the past few weeks, he’s let it slip a few times, admitting that he lost by a “whisker”—which the ABC moderators called him out on.
A CNN/SSRS flash poll was conducted following the debate in which 63% of respondents found that Harris won the debate, whereas Trump only carried 37% of them—a clear inverse of the Biden versus Trump debate, conducted just a few months prior.
So, to address my second point, will this debate influence the outcome of the presidential election? Contrary to popular belief, my answer is yes—it certainly will.
See, many—if not most—people have made up their minds regarding their choice for this presidential election. Polling aggregates have now consistently demonstrated that Harris holds an average lead of about 4 percentage points, in the national popular vote. However, there’s a fraction of the American electorate, mainly moderate and independent swing state voters, who still haven’t.
This debate presented itself as the perfect opportunity for Kamala Harris to introduce herself as a charismatic, intelligent, and grounded leader, but most importantly presidential. Trump, on the other hand, reminded people of why they should not be voting for him. He returned to his polarizing talking points of refusing election results, denying any responsibility for January 6th, and falsely claimed that he had no association to Project 20253.
The most crucial group of voters in the seven key swing states, often moderate in their views, are likely to be alienated by Trump’s extremist and polarizing remarks. For context, those key states are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin totalling a combined 93 electoral votes—and six of these seven states voted for President Joe Biden in 2020—a moderate president.
Winning an election without these key states is nearly impossible, and according to polling aggregates, Harris is performing either as well or better than Biden did in the 2020 election.
Let’s recap—Harris overperfomed expectations and dealt a scathing blow to Donald Trump, so much so, that as I am writing this, he refused a second presidential debate. Although, his reasons for refusing differ from the reality of the situation.
Trump’s re-election bid, at this point, are slim at best. But, there’s 54 days to go and a lot can change so my advice to all Americans is simple: vote.
Harris has the momentum, and this debate largely solidified her base of support. It’s reasonable to assume that she likely attracted additional swing state voters to her camp and in a race as close as this one, you need all the votes you can get.
And let’s not forget that huge Taylor Swift endorsement. More on that coming very soon…
She needed to prove that she’s the right choice for President. Folks, she did exactly that.
ABC News presidential debate attracted approximately 67.1 million individuals, according to early estimates. (Al-Jazeera & Reuters)
Donald Trump was formally impeached by the United States House of Representatives for his participation and incitement of the insurrection on January 6th, 2021. That day was the set for the certification of the Electoral College vote, and US election results.
Project 2025 is authored by multiple Trump White House staffers and aides. He claims to have no knowledge of its content and yet claims some parts are “good” and some are “bad"—so there’s that.