Donald Trump and Kamala Harris faced each other for the first time in Tuesday night’s crucial presidential debate, with less than two months to go before America decides who will become the next President. The other presidential debate between Trump and Joe Biden on June 27 led to the end of the latter’s reelection campaign. With such high stakes—and no current plans for a second Trump-Harris debate—our writers declare who won and why. You can have your say with our poll—and leave your own verdict below.
Patrick T. Brown—Kamala Harris
If your tennis opponent double-faults, you earn a point by doing nothing. And Vice President Kamala Harris, who turned in an adequate performance, will emerge the winner from tonight’s debate because of her opponent’s missteps. Aside from displaying genuine passion in the segment on abortion, she relied on self-evidently canned lines. For the most part, she was content to let former President Donald Trump indulge some of his worst tendencies, from defending his actions on Jan. 6, citing dubious online memes, and relitigating the 2020 election. As a result, Trump was the main character, but couldn’t effectively use the spotlight to give undecided voters new reason to give him another chance. Tonight’s game goes to Ms. Harris—but the match is still too close to call.
Patrick T. Brown is a Fellow at The Ethics and Public Policy Center
Arick Wierson—Kamala Harris
There is now no doubt that Vice President Kamala Harris is the only major candidate in this year’s race who lives in a fact-based reality. From claiming that illegal immigrants are eating Americans’ pets to suggesting that Democrats support post-birth abortions (which is murder), millions of viewers tonight were on the receiving end of an endless barrage of lies from former President Donald Trump. If the stakes weren’t so high, it would have been humorous; instead, it was alarming to see a candidate so ill-equipped to assume the highest office in the land on the national stage. Win for Harris.
Arick Wierson is a six-time Emmy award-winning television producer
Bethany Mandel—Kamala Harris
The keyword about Election 2024 is vibes. How do the American people feel about former President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris? Coming out of the last presidential debate, it was clear that the vibes were going in the direction of President Trump; President Biden was exposed to be a deeply confused, elderly man. Few remember what was said, but most Americans, even his most ardent supporters, felt uncomfortable about his basic competency. That debate performance led to internal upheaval among Democrats that led to Vice President Harris moving to the top of the ticket. I watched the second debate next to my ten-year-old daughter and my nine-year-old son, who are more knowledgeable about foreign and domestic policy than most adult American voters. That’s not me tooting my kids’ horns, that’s me saying most Americans aren’t paying that close attention; which is what makes this a vibes election. The vibes from last night, according to my daughter, “She seems nice, like she’s speaking from the heart. She’s convincing; if I wasn’t sure who I was going to vote for, I would probably go for her.” After the first debate, the vibes flowed in President Trump’s direction because it felt like a sequel of Weekend at Bernie’s. Up against an opponent who wasn’t near catatonic, President Trump wasn’t so lucky this time around.
Bethany Mandel is co-author of Stolen Youth
Ross Rosenfeld—Kamala Harris
Harris wasn’t perfect, but she certainly won. The Vice President came off as caring and sincere, while Trump appeared rambling, incoherent at times, and flustered. In addition to his usual endless streams of lies about pipelines and abortion, he made various inane (or possibly insane) comments, claiming migrants are eating pets, praising dictator Viktor Orban, and trying to rewrite what happened on January 6. Harris had some clever barbs in response, calling Trump a “disgrace,” referring to “Trump abortion bans,” and saying he was “fired by 81 million Americans,” which may have been the best line of the night.
Ross Rosenfeld is a former teacher, writer, and college adviser
Michael Tracey — Donald Trump
I would ordinarily reject the clichéd premise that any candidate can “win” one of these tedious debates, but here I’ll make a rare exception, because any candidate who would earnestly tout the endorsement of Dick Cheney has to be declared the automatic loser. In this sense, Kamala Harris resoundingly lost tonight’s debate. I audibly guffawed in the Philadelphia convention hall when she name-dropped Dick, which provoked some bewildered looks from fellow journalists, but if I’m the only one who had a violent reaction to that moment, so be it. Donald Trump was a secondary loser with his “pro-Israel” hysterics, not to mention his strange claim that Vladimir Putin has killed “millions” in Ukraine, but Kamala sadly takes the ignominious cake.
Michael Traceyis an independent reporter
Daniel R. DePetris—Tie
On the issue of foreign policy specifically, the result was a draw. Kamala Harris didn’t provide any specifics on how she would bring Israel and Hamas toward a ceasefire, simply repeating that a ceasefire needed to happen. It was a totally insufficient tired answer. She vowed continued U.S. support for the Ukrainians, seemingly without end, and regurgitated her infatuation with NATO. Donald Trump wasn’t much better, asserting Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the Russian invasion of Ukraine wouldn’t have occurred if he were still sitting in the White House and proclaiming—again—that he would settle the war in Ukraine through a negotiation in short-order. How? He didn’t say. There was a clear loser, however: the millions of Americans watching, wondering who would be a better commander-in-chief.
Daniel R. DePetris is a Fellow at Defense Priorities
