On September 11, 2024, the first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris occurred.
Trump’s performance in this debate was fairly tame compared to past debates of which the former president participated. Kamala did attempt to get the former president riled, though President Trump held back emotion. Both candidates had strong points and weak points in their arguments. Trump’s rebuttals were great; however when stating policies, he had some trouble. For example, when Trump was asked what plans he had to replace Obamacare with something better, he said, “I have concepts of a plan” but did not elaborate. Kamala made her policies clear; however, her rebuttals were lackluster. Kamala stated many times that her “opportunity economy” was a policy she would enact if she is elected.
Some say that ABC news was biased against the former president. One example of bias is the questions being asked themselves. Some questions Trump was asked could be conceived as inappropriate in a presidential debate. In particular, this question was asked regarding immigration and border security, something the former president was passionate about during his presidency. Trump said, “Let me just ask, though, why did you try to kill that bill and successfully so? That would have put thousands of additional agents and officers on the border.” David Muir, the interviewee, asked. However, Kamala was not asked such questions.
After multiple polls showing that Kamala Harris won the debate, Trump has said he will do no more debates with the vice president. “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” Trump wrote on social media site Truth Social. Multiple Republican donors and Trump advisors even stated Kamala had won the debate largely because Trump could not stay on message.