Between more or less effective thrusts, slips (by Donald Trump) and moments of tension, The first and perhaps only televised duel between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump took place in Philadelphiaa city that is a symbol of American democracy and the center of the most crucial swing state for the conquest of the White House. Many topics were touched upon in an hour and a half of debate, from the economy to Ukraine and the war in Gaza, passing through the right to abortion, immigration and Afghanistan.
“I am neither Biden nor Trump, I am the leader of a new generation”said the vice president who this evening had the task of introducing herself to those millions of Americans who do not know her or who associate her with the current administration.
And the candidate also “introduced” herself to her rival who did not seem to want to shake her hand, approaching him and saying: “Nice to meet you, Kamala Harris.”. “It’s time to turn the page, my plan is a new path for the future,” stressed Biden’s vice president who for the first time distanced herself from her president. Overall Harris managed to corner her opponent at different times, calmly and determinedly but also stealing some of his most colorful and aggressive expressions. Like when accused him of “selling the United States to China” with his chip policy; or when he accused him of being a friend of dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un “root for him because they can manipulate him”. With the North Korean leader “we wrote love letters”, she said sarcastically. And the friendship with the Kremlin leader was one of the foreign policy issues on which the vice president attacked most harshly. “If Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kiev with his eyes fixed on Europe”, the Democrat insisted, provoking the tycoon by declaring that “foreign leaders laugh at him”. “You are friends with a dictator who would eat you for breakfast”.
Also firm on abortion – “the government and especially Donald Trump should not tell a woman what to do with her body” – a hot topic of the campaign on which the tycoon, instead, slipped by stating that the Democrats want to allow abortion in the “ninth month” of pregnancy and confusing Virginia with West Virginia. Harris’ strategy was also to remind Americans that the tycoon has already been president with results, in her opinion, disastrous. “Trump left us the highest unemployment since the Great Depression. What we did was clean up the mess he created”, she attacked, recalling his failed policies on Covid. She also reproached him for not being able to talk about the “crimes of migrants” he who “is convicted and prosecuted” and paid him back in his own coin when speaking of the crowds at rallies she said that those of the tycoon leave “out of boredom and exasperation”.
The Donald for his part has shown off the classics of his rhetoric: from Harris “Marxist who has destroyed the country with policies that are insane” to Harris anti-Israel who will destroy the country within two years of taking office. And he managed to land some of his jokes like when he stopped her by telling her “I’m talking” referring to the same now-famous phrase used by Harris to Mike Pence in the vice-presidential debate. But at times he seemed irritated and nervous, raised his voice and became confused in front of the Olympic calm of his opponent..
And in addition to the unfortunate statement on abortion, he made a gaffe repeating the false conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants eat Americans’ house cats. When asked about Harris’ “race” issue, he couldn’t completely back down, dismissing it with “I couldn’t care less. Whatever it is, I’m fine with it, let her decide.” The tycoon tried to put his opponent in difficulty on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a sore point of the Biden administration, but even in that case Harris distanced herself by relaunching that it was the tycoon who made a disastrous deal by even inviting the Taliban to Camp David, a sacred site of the United States. In the end, The Donald claimed that he had “never debated so well in his life” accusing the moderators of ABC News of being “biased”. Harris, for her part, immediately asked for a second debate, a sign of strength and confidence, and at the end of the debate she even cashed in on Taylor Swift’s precious endorsement..