On June 28, when the presidential debate for the US election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump began, many concluded that the battle was over before it even began. When the 81-year-old US president lost his train of thought several times while speaking on important topics, his 78-year-old predecessor and rival mocked his confusion.
On September 11, Trump faced a different Democratic presidential candidate. And this time, he was older and won by a much bigger margin. At 59, Vice President Kamala Harris is nearly two decades younger than him and she missed no opportunity to make that clear, albeit in a subtle way. “What I offer is a new generation of leadership for our country,” she said.
In the US presidential debates, broadcast on television and closely watched on social media, visuals matter. While Biden appeared pale and confused, Harris looked confident and focused. Harris walked up to Trump and shook his hand and said, “Hi, Kamala Harris, let’s have a good debate.” This was the first handshake on the US presidential debate stage after eight years. It was emphasized that this was the first time the two leaders met.
The Indian-origin Vice President left no stone unturned as the debate began. On several occasions, she managed to embarrass Trump, which his team would not be happy about. She targeted him over his criminal convictions, his administration’s handling of the Covid pandemic, and his image on the global stage. Now the situation has changed. While in the previous debate, Biden struggled to respond to Trump’s attacks on his policies, this time Harris’ message was clear and Trump looked defensive.
At the start of the debate, responding to a question on the US economy and cost of living, Ms Harris spoke about her middle-class background and plans to support families and small businesses if elected to the top post. Taking a dig at Trump, she said she would provide tax cuts to “billionaires and big companies”. “Donald Trump doesn’t have a plan for you,” she said.
Trump responded with a personal attack. “He’s a Marxist — everybody knows he’s a Marxist. His father is a Marxist professor of economics and he gave him a good education,” he said.
When Trump attacked Harris over the Biden administration’s immigration policies, she responded sharply, saying, “You’re going to hear the same old worn-out tactics, a lot of lies, complaints, and name-calling.” A key moment in the debate was when Trump floated a conspiracy theory on social media that immigrants were eating pets.
“In Springfield, they’re eating dogs, people who came in, they’re eating cats. They’re eating the pets of people who live there. And that’s what’s happening in our country,” she said. Harris’ microphone was off, but she was seen laughing and saying “What?”
Another sharp reaction came when Harris, speaking about the Ukraine war, said that “if Trump were president, Putin would sit in Kiev and watch over the rest of Europe.” She also said that Putin would “eat you for lunch.”
Compare these exchanges to the conversations during the Biden vs Trump debate. The aging president appeared to perform relatively calm and struggled to articulate himself while Trump set off fireworks. The debate was still ongoing when the White House said Biden had caught a cold. The US president’s performance did not help him convince the nation that he can continue to serve in one of the most powerful positions in the world until he is 86.
“You are not fighting against Biden”
A major challenge Harris faced in this debate was that Team Trump was trying to link her to the failure of the Biden administration. However, Harris responded by insisting that she represents a new generation of leadership and that it was time to “turn the page.”
“I’m obviously not Joe Biden and I’m certainly not Donald Trump. And I offer a new generation of leadership for our country that believes in what’s possible. That brings a sense of optimism about what we can do, rather than always insulting the American people,” she said.
On another occasion he said, “Tonight you’ve heard two very different visions for this country. One that’s focused on the future and one that’s focused on the past.”
He also managed to tease Trump by saying that world leaders laugh at him and adding, “You’re a disgrace”. Trump responded by citing his close relationship with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and saying he has said Trump should come back as president. The reference to Orban, known for restrictions on immigration and gay rights, was widely seen as Trump’s continued praise of autocratic leaders.
While there wasn’t a special mic drop moment, the debate saw many of Harris’ punches land well. The November election is still likely to be a close contest – the ABC poll tracker shows a 2.8 percentage point lead – but Democrats have without a doubt returned to where they were during the Biden vs Trump debate on June 28.