The debate between Harris and Trump wasn’t close — and 4 other takeaways

Former President Donald Trump, nan Republican statesmanlike nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, nan Democratic nominee, participate during ABC News’ statesmanlike statement Tuesday astatine nan National Constitution Center successful Philadelphia. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Well, that was different from the June 27 debate between President Biden and Donald Trump.

If that June statement was a five-alarm occurrence for Democrats that yet forced Biden from nan race, aft Tuesday’s statement betwixt Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s proponents should astir apt cheque nan somesthesia successful their ain house.

What happened — and what could it mean going forward?

Here are 5 takeaways:

1. This statement wasn’t close.

The mostly of nan attraction coming into Tuesday was astir really Harris would grip her first-ever statesmanlike statement pinch personification who had been connected this shape galore times. Could she reply questions astir her position shifts; parry attacks from Trump, personification who tries to beryllium nan alpha connected these stages; could she reply nan onslaught that she’s ray connected policy; and could she look “presidential”?

She whitethorn person seemed tense astatine first, but she quickly recovered her sound and much than acquitted herself well. All of those questions were quickly dispatched:

• She explained her displacement connected fracking (“My position is that we person sewage to put successful divers sources of energy, truthful we trim our reliance connected overseas oil”).
• Harris was acold much ascendant than Trump, from opening to end. She called him “weak and wrong,” inverting nan governmental cliché that “strong and wrong” thumps “weak and right.” Harris answered questions, past redirected and baited him connected a big of issues.
• She sewage nether Trump’s tegument — thing he usually tries to do — by saying that group astatine his rallies time off “early retired of exhaustion and boredom,” coating him arsenic retired of touch and a bad businessman for inheriting $400 cardinal “on a metallic platter and past revenge for bankruptcy six times,” and chiding him for being “fired by 81 cardinal people” successful nan 2020 predetermination and now being “confused” astir losing.
• Harris addressed policy, including taxation breaks for mini businesses and parents and touting her thought for a first-time home-buyer in installments for down payments. She many times said, “I person a plan,” while Trump was near saying, “I have concepts of a plan” erstwhile it comes to replacing nan Affordable Care Act.
• And connected nan statesmanlike mobility — Harris was calm, successful bid and successful power and looked to nan future, distinguishing herself from some Biden and Trump.

Trump’s squad up of nan statement equated nan Republican standard-bearer to boxing awesome Muhammad Ali. If he was a boxer, Trump was trim and bleeding successful nan mediate of nan fight, and by nan end, was TKO’d. Or arsenic a Democratic strategist texted afterward, it was much like Ali vs. Berbick, Ali’s past fight, decided unanimously — for Berbick.

Trump made nan different move for a statesmanlike campaigner to spell into nan rotation room aft nan statement and talk to reporters. That’s not thing that’s usually done erstwhile personification has a bully debate. That’s usually reserved for low-polling superior candidates, who felt they didn’t get capable clip aliases attraction during nan debate.

2. The spotlight should now beryllium connected Trump’s incoherence and wide deficiency of immoderate superior grasp connected policy.

Coming into nan debate, we noted that if Harris is “able to acquit herself passably, nan spotlight and scrutiny should beryllium heavy connected Trump.”

That’s because Trump did not person a very bully statement against Biden successful June, but his superior problems — his deficiency of constituent and repeated lies — were overshadowed by Biden’s disastrous performance, maybe nan worst of immoderate statesmanlike campaigner successful history.

With a more-than-competent capacity from Harris Tuesday, Trump’s lies, meandering, conspiracies and often wide incoherence was made moreover much glaring.

He wandered done conspiracies about, not conscionable nan election, but besides astir who is presently president (Joe Biden), nan accustomed astir immigrants who (aren’t actually) coming from “mental institutions and insane asylums” and nan recently different (and debunked) astir immigrants who (are not) “eating nan dogs” aliases “cats.”

Trump sewage nan conspiracy wrong, though, because it was astir ducks, not dogs.

Trump even got incorrect what nan existent facts of Harris’ misleading complaint that Trump predicted “a bloodbath” if nan result of this predetermination is “not to his liking.”

“It was a different term,” Trump said, “and it was a word that related to power because they person destroyed our power business.”

It was nan correct term. He did opportunity “bloodbath” back successful March, but he was talking successful nan discourse of Chinese tariffs, nan car manufacture and a modulation to electrical vehicles — not “our power business.”

It’s nan very benignant of point that would person had Democrats tense astir their octogenarian erstwhile campaigner and Republicans “outraged” connected cablegram news astir Biden’s intelligence state.

3. Trump was connected nan protect and evasive, moreover connected issues that should use him — and didn’t onshore much, if anything, that stuck.

Harris had Trump connected nan protect from nan get-go connected nan system (about his taxation cuts and tariffs), his jobs record, his handling of nan pandemic and Jan. 6. There were times, moreover connected immigration, erstwhile Trump decided to reside a Harris onslaught alternatively of talking astir nan rumor he ostensibly wants to talk astir about.

For personification who likes to measure himself a consecutive shooter, Trump didn’t reply questions straight and dumped a top hits of lies from this campaign. He declined to opportunity if he wanted Ukraine to triumph against Russia, wouldn’t reply if he had immoderate regrets astir his consequence to nan unit connected Jan. 6, and he doubly refused to opportunity if he would veto a nationalist abortion ban, for illustration his vice-presidential moving mate said he would.

In fact, he went retired of his measurement to opportunity fundamentally that Republican vice-presidential campaigner JD Vance doesn’t speak for him — successful a clumsy and meandering measurement that led him to student loans:

“Well, I didn’t talk it pinch JD successful each fairness. JD — And I, I don’t mind if he has a definite view, but I deliberation he was speaking for me, but I really didn’t. Look, we don’t person to talk it, because she’d ne'er beryllium capable to get it, conscionable for illustration she couldn’t get student loans. They couldn’t get student loans. They didn’t moreover travel adjacent to getting student loans. They taunted young group and a batch of different group that had loans. They tin ne'er get this approved. So it doesn’t matter what she says astir going to Congress. So wonderful, let’s spell to Congress, do it.”

Never mind that Republicans successful Congress would not enactment to thief relieve student loans aliases that Republican-led states sued to extremity Biden’s executive action connected student-loan forgiveness. But Trump was digging nan spread moreover deeper for himself connected abortion rights.

“I did a awesome work successful doing it,” Trump said astir nan overturning of Roe. “It took courageousness to do it. And nan Supreme Court had awesome courageousness successful doing it. And I springiness tremendous in installments to those six justices.”

Nearly two-thirds person said they opposed the overturning of Roe.

Trump was besides extracurricular nan mainstream of nationalist sentiment successful talking astir nan Affordable Care Act. He called it “lousy” and “not very bully today” when record numbers of group person a favorable sentiment of it.

Trump’s champion onslaught was astir apt this:

“She’s gonna do each these awesome things,” he said. “Why hasn’t she done it? She’s been location for three-and-a-half years. They’ve had three-and-a-half years to hole nan border. They’ve had three-and-a-half years to create jobs and each nan things we talked about. Why hasn’t she done it?”

But a coherent onslaught statement was uncommon from Trump Tuesday night. And moreover this 1 was astir a concession.

4. The moderators fact-checked dissimilar successful nan erstwhile debate.

CNN said it was going to time off nan truth checking to nan candidates during nan June statement betwixt Trump and Biden.

ABC took a different approach. Moderators David Muir and Lindsay Davis interjected pinch truth checks 4 times — each were of Trump.

That was not a reflection of bias; it was because of conscionable really galore things Trump said location were blatantly false, for illustration connected crime statistics, nan dogs and cats conspiracy and nan 2020 election.

They did it pinch a mild, but clear reside and maintained power of nan statement passim nan evening, getting to tons of topics and not letting either campaigner tally complete them.

Their attack was notable, peculiarly pinch viewership expected to beryllium high. When he went to nan rotation room, Trump added to his heap of grievances, claiming nan statement was “very unfair” and called it “three connected one.”

5. Harris has done everything correct — and could still lose.

Harris arguably handled Trump amended than anyone has astatine a debate, whether it was Hillary Clinton successful 2016 aliases Biden successful 2020 — moreover though astir concluded that Clinton and Biden won most, if not all, of those face-offs.

Since getting into this shortened campaign, Harris has done beautiful overmuch everything right. She’s tacked to nan middle, raised much than half-a-billion dollars, staffed up and opened section offices crossed nan plaything states, fired up nan Democratic guidelines and now moreover out-debated Trump.

But nan governmental reality is Harris could still lose.

Trump has a beardown and devoted base, and nan 7 plaything states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada — are much blimpish than nan state astatine large.

People still are much pessimistic than optimistic connected nan economy, moreover if that’s improved immoderate lately, and polls — including nan NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist canvass retired Tuesday — person shown group spot Trump to grip nan economy, migration and nan warfare successful nan Middle East much than Harris.

Could this statement person changed immoderate minds? Maybe. But views of Trump person been ingrained. This title is very overmuch a coin flip, according to nan polls, and that’s improbable to alteration very overmuch moreover aft this debate, because of really hyper-polarized this state is.