A Sellout Slugfest

THE SECOND PRESIDENTIAL debate of 2024, between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, revived the Democratic Party from its near-death experience. In the first round, Joe Biden was embarrassingly not in this world. Optically, too, the combatants were much more of a match-up this time.

While Trump scowled with his jaws clenched throughout the event, Kamala stood relaxed with unfurrowed brow. Interesting how this image was the first thing that struck several viewers well before they commented on the substance of the debate. Visually, the two were a study in contrast.

If the debate had stopped after the first question the hosts raised regarding what had the Biden-Harris team done to economically lift America, Trump would have gone home a clear winner. This was clearly the kind of red meat that Trump relishes and he went for it.

Even Trump baiters and haters had to admit that Harris fumblingly dodged this issue while Trump blasted her with how devastating the inflation had been in the recent past. This renewed the faith Republicans had placed in their man. Trump was the greatest since TV remote control.

Kamala came back into the fight when the matter of abortion rights came up. Here, Trump’s uncalled for allegation that Democrats would happily kill babies after they were born was a bit much even for his folks. While this revived Kamala, Republicans wanted the topic to change.

Trump tried to argue his way out by saying he was not against abortion but only concerned about how far into pregnancy this could be allowed. Kamala then shot back saying that JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, had said that if the Republicans won, abortion would be banned.

When in a tight spot, regardless of what was being argued, Trump would return to the subject of migrants crossing the border. Kamala, likewise, would constantly stress how she would give the middle class a better life. The two debaters obviously wanted the viewers to choose between this basic divide.

Trump’s charge that illegal migrants were eating pets in America unpleasantly surprised many of his supporters just as his earlier claim that Democrats would kill babies after they were born. That even the TV hosts had to contradict Trump on these was seized by Kamala’s supporters.

On foreign policy, Trump asserted his strong “my horse, my rules” image would end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza because world leaders feared him as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán had remarked earlier. This prompted Kamala’s quip that dictators loved Trump for they could “eat him for lunch”.

The hunt was on for killer taglines such as this which would stay after the TV sets were switched off. Trump’s corner hoped that his portrayal of Kamala as a migrant-encouraging “Marxist” would stick just as Democrats wanted to memorialise the charge that Trump was a dictators’ treat.

Kamala successfully kept gender and colour sidelined and Trump did well to hit on the economy. Trump trumped here because it is easier to show what did not work than to claim there is a blueprint, which was Kamala’s refrain, that will actually work. The present truth outguns future promises.

The role of the TV hosts was also quite significant. On two occasions they came up with fact checks that disproved Trump but they also gave him more time than they gave to Kamala for rebuttals.

There is also the speculation that Trump may want another debate to clean up some of the debris he left behind this time. Kamala will probably agree to this for it would do her no good to refuse. This is also what Kamala’s running mate, Tim Walz, would want for he thinks Kamala won this round.

At the end, Kamala’s supporters were happier than those in Trump’s corner. That Kamala stood her ground and also angered Trump at times was very apparent. The face-off between the two is ultimately down to whether the prosperity plan for the middle class can win over the fear of migrants.

Though Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, one a sitting vice president and the other a past president, are both A-listers on any guest list, the two met for the first time during this debate. That is how divided the politics of the US is today. This election will soon make fence-sitters an extinct species.

About The Author

Dipankar Gupta