Former President Donald Trump’s performance in the Sept. 10 presidential debate can be summed up perfectly by Vice President Kamala Harris: “…the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you.”
Over the course of the nearly two-hour debate, Trump was quite verbose, mostly when it came to sensational disinformation and false claims, like immigrants eating pets and healthcare providers killing babies after birth. However, when pressed about his specific goals for public policy, he only had “concepts of a plan,” as he said when asked about his plan for healthcare.
He struggled to formulate any substantive policies for issues people care about, like the economy, healthcare and foreign policy, among others. Instead, regardless of the question asked, Trump always found a way to divert attention back to immigration, utilizing fear tactics and widespread mean world syndrome to declare undocumented immigrants the common enemy.
“They’re going in violently… And they’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous. They’re at the highest level of criminality,” Trump said in the debate.
(Yet, according to the FBI, immigration rates continue to rise, while violent crime rates fall in the U.S., as noted by ABC debate commentator David Muir.)
Trump relies on the immigration issue because without it, his campaign does not stand for much. He responded to questions about topics such as foreign policy by saying what he would have done if he was reelected in 2020, instead of what he would do if he were elected in 2024.
When asked about his plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example, he said if he were president “it would have never started,” and essentially left it at that. He had the same response for the Russia-Ukraine war.
When Harris or the commentators pressed Trump too much, he spiraled and began blurting out deranged comments and personal attacks against Harris, calling her a Marxist and “the worst vice president in the history of our country.” He also accused her of lying about being Black.
What Trump fails to realize is that Americans are tired of this hate and division in politics. The average American voter honestly could not care less about how many people are at Trump’s rallies compared to Harris’ or how Harris allegedly “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” They care about the issues that impact their everyday lives, like healthcare, abortion rights and economic issues, none of which did Trump have a substantive plan for during the debate.
Conversely, although she too engaged in personal attacks, Harris’ debate strategy was to fixate on these issues that many Americans feel are being neglected. Simply having a plan, regardless of its quality, automatically puts her at an advantage over Trump.
Overall, it is evident that there are two types of candidates: “One that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past,” as put by Harris.
While Harris discussed how she can improve the nation, Trump seemed to be focused on himself. He mourned what could have been if he were reelected years ago and relished in his perceived greatness.
It appears that after Trump’s self- centered and sloppy debate performance, a quote from Harris may resonate with Americans this November: “It’s time to turn the page.”