Who won the presidential debate? Harris laughed, Trump spiraled

Former president repeated familiar falsehoods and gave rambling answers

The fiery presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris painted the picture of a scorned former president who wants a return to his era and a hopeful vice president desperate for a different future.

Ultimately, the former president’s rambling answers, repeated blatant falsehoods, and consistent interruption hurt him on Tuesday night.

“Make no mistake about it, Trump had a bad night,” Brit Hume said on Fox News.

Where Harris presented clear and direct policies on the economy, immigration, abortion, and more, the former president gave into her baiting of him and delivered familiar rambling remarks. He spoke about “migrant crime”, false claims about late-term abortions, inflation, his criminal trials, and the 2020 election – all topics he brings up in press conferences and rallies.

“We heard so many of the old grievances that we long thought that Trump had learned were not winners, politically,” Hume said.

Trump prevailed during the first presidential debate against President Joe Biden in June, notably because the president stumbled over answers with a hoarse voice, making him appear weak. Just weeks later, Biden was forced to drop out of the race, clearing the way for Harris to become the Democratic nominee.

Harris stares at former president Trump during Tuesday’s presidential debate (Reuters)

But this time, Trump appeared unprepared.

ABC News moderators corrected Trump on several of his points, like repeating a false claim that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio community were “eating dogs” and “eating cats”, that some states under Democratic leadership want to allow abortions after birth, and repeating incorrect statistics about crime rates.

At multiple points during the debate, Harris laughed, rolled her eyes and stared intensely as the former president answered questions.

Trump rambled about familiar talking points during Tuesday night’s debate (AP)

In the middle of the debate, Harris baited the former president by pettily mentioning the size of his rallies – a sore spot for Trump – and suggesting people were leaving early “out of exhaustion and boredom”.

The former president immediately used his time to assert his rallies were bigger and better than Harris’s.

“People don’t leave my rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” Trump said.

Joy Reid said on MSNBC that Trump “got destroyed” in the debate “because he can’t control his mind, and you don’t want a president of the United States who can’t control his mind”.

When Harris mentioned Trump’s criminal trials, he took the bait again, and went on a long rant, accusing the Biden administration and Harris of targeting him.

The vice president brought up Republicans who have endorsed her campaign, Trump responded by attempting to undermine their importance, claiming he “fired most of those people”.

Allies of the former president quickly voiced their support for the former president, with many asserting he was treated unfairly by the ABC News moderators.

Laura Ingraham said, “In the end, we all know what we knew before: that ABC’s goal tonight was to help Kamala Harris.”

“And ABC did help Kamala Harris,” she added. “Now, did Donald Trump miss a few opportunities? Absolutely. Did she miss a few opportunities? Yes she did.”

The conservative Fox News host went on to claim that Trump’s strongest moment in the debate came when he said: “When somebody does a bad job, I fire them”, adding that top generals should have been fired following the deaths of 13 Army service members bombed during US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan in 2021.

Over on X, Elon Musk, who often advocates for Trump, acknowledged that Harris “exceeded most people’s expectations tonight”, while still claiming the debate hosts weren’t fair to the GOP candidate.

“That said,” he continued, “when it comes to getting things done, not just saying nice-sounding words, I strongly believe that Trump will do a far better job.”

He added that the vice president would have achieved “great things” by now if she could, claiming President Joe Biden, “rarely shows up for work so she’s basically in charge already”.

Biden made his own response to the debate, also writing on X that “America got to see tonight the leader I’ve been proud to work alongside for three and a half years.”

“Wasn’t even close,” he declared. “VP Harris proved she’s the best choice to lead our nation forward.”

He finished his post firmly, writing “We’re not going back.”

“The biggest, I think, failure for the country tonight was ABC,” Fox News anchor Sean Hannity said after the debate.

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio affirmed, “Yeah it’s an embarrassment.”

But conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson disagreed.

“Trump lost the debate, and whining about the moderators doesn’t change it. He didn’t lose because of their behavior. He lost because of his own performance while his lips were moving, not theirs,” Erickson wrote on X.

One of Trump’s most prominent allies, Lindsey Graham, who was also at the debate, expressed dissapointment after the opponents left the stage, calling it a “missed opportunity” to reporters at the event in Philadelphia.

At the end of the night, Trump told reporters it was “the best debate” he ever had and claimed Harris wanted another debate “because she got beaten tonight”.