After the first debate between the two presidential candidates, both camps claim “victory.” However, Harris seemed to have a bit more reason to do so.
By: Viviana Mazza – Corriere della Sera
Publication Date:
FROM OUR PHILADELPHIA CORRESPONDENT – Kamala Harris stepped onto the stage, approached Donald Trump, and shook his hand introducing herself: “I’m Kamala Harris.” The debate between the two presidential rivals was crucial for her: an opportunity to present herself to millions of Americans who tuned in (including popstar Taylor Swift) and especially to undecided voters who claim to not know enough about her policies.
Harris, in reality, did not provide many details. Neither did Trump, as he evaded: when the rival repeated “I have a plan,” he claimed, “I have some concepts of a plan.”
The Democratic candidate appeared competent and effective, gaining momentum after a slow start, although in the first part of the debate, it was always Trump who had the last word. The two rivals addressed the issues that matter to voters: the economy and inflation, immigration (where he leads in the polls), abortion (where she is seen as more reliable).
Harris tried to paint Trump as a friend of billionaires who will drown the middle class. Trump tried to portray Harris as a far-left extremist who has no idea how to govern the country (even though she is the vice president).
Perhaps the debate will not change much in the balances – many say so -: the candidates’ allies repeat that the polls in the coming days will provide an indication.
In the “spin room,” a huge room in the media center of Philadelphia where we journalists followed the debate (there was no audience at the National Constitution Center), we met representatives and allies of the two candidates: of course, both camps claimed “victory.” But Harris seemed to have a bit more reason to do so: the evening was crowned by Taylor Swift’s endorsement (signed “childless cat lady,” a reference to the criticism by JD Vance, Trump’s deputy, of women who do not have children): the popstar’s words can reach more Americans than those who watched the debate, noted California Governor Gavin Newsom speaking to journalists.
Furthermore, Harris managed to often put Trump on the defensive by provoking him on sensitive points such as the size of the crowds at his rallies, his legal troubles, and world leaders who “mock him.” To the latter statement, the Republican candidate – with an increasingly loud and angry tone – retorted that the Hungarian Viktor Orban appreciates him and revealed that Orban, instead, “hates Harris.” More than repeating the slogan “I am the prosecutor against the criminal,” the Democratic candidate tried to put it into practice.
Trump often took the bait on provocations, although he methodically tried to avoid personal attacks in response. At one point, as Harris interrupted him, albeit with the microphone off, he said to her: “I’m speaking. Does that sound familiar to you?” (it’s the phrase she used against Mike Pence during a vice presidential debate in 2020).
When moderator David Muir asked him if he doubts that Harris is a black woman, Trump replied that it doesn’t matter, “it’s up to her to define herself.” Pressed by Muir, he responded, “I read that she wasn’t black, then that she was black, but it’s fine with me anyway.” Shortly after the end of the debate, Trump appeared in the spin room: it’s not customary for the presidential candidate himself to show up, usually, the “surrogates” – senators, governors, representatives from both parties’ campaigns – speak to journalists.
Surrounded by a crowd of reporters, Trump claimed that this was his “best debate,” a performance superior even to that against Biden, considering “it was three against one,” he added – accusing ABC News journalists David Muir and Linsey Davis of bias (Davis corrected Trump when he claimed that Democrats want to execute babies after birth: “There are no laws in America that allow that,” said the journalist).
Harris said she was already prepared for a second debate, Trump did not commit and stated that the rival wants another one because “she lost tonight.” Harris, despite the muted microphones, sometimes placed her hand under her chin or laughed astonished during Trump’s statements, like when the former president stated that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, steal and eat neighbors’ pets. The moderator Muir immediately intervened to deny the truth of those claims. His allies in the spin room found themselves having to defend him.
“It’s being talked about on social media,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio. “People are talking about it, I don’t know if it’s true,” Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law who heads the National Republican Committee, told us. The two rivals often accused each other of lying: Trump denied wanting to sign a law to ban abortion nationwide; Harris denied wanting to take away guns from all Americans (“Myself and Tim Walz – her deputy – own a gun”). One of Trump’s objectives was to associate Harris with Biden, who has a low popularity rate. “He’s her boss,” he said. “She is Biden,” he declared at one point. Harris replied, “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden and I am not Donald Trump, I represent a new generation.”
