“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs!” Donald Trump boomed, to incredulous chuckles from Kamala Harris on the split screen. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating –” he paused to compose himself with Harris by then laughing audibly to his left. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
That, in a nutshell, is how the second presidential debate went for the former president. So, not especially well. The debate didn’t go especially well for Trump.
We should be clear-eyed: Trump didn’t lose any voters on Tuesday evening. If you were going to vote for Trump before the debate, you were still going to vote for him afterwards. This is, after all, a man who “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose any support, as he famously put it. (Thanks to the Supreme Court, he wouldn’t lose his freedom in such a scenario either as long as he was president and as long as gunning down random civilians was somehow part of his presidential duties.)
But if you were on the fence about Trump this time — maybe you voted for him in the past but you’re disillusioned or you’re just exhausted with his stand-up routine, or maybe you voted against him previously but inflation and immigration have you down on Democrats — he didn’t win you over. If anything, he underscored and accentuated your concerns.
Trump was fine early. Harris’s opening statement came across as stilted and rehearsed, and she fumbled over a word here and there, whereas Trump was, for the first 15 or so minutes, sharp and concise. Then Harris settled in. Shortly thereafter, she went on the attack. Trump was on his heels for the rest of the night.
It wasn’t the complete rout that it should’ve been. Harris, despite gaining the clear upper-hand at or around the half-hour mark, was never in total command. She didn’t present as an especially gifted debater, particularly not for a career prosecutor. She’s good at conducting interrogations in tightly-controlled settings — we’ve seen that in the Senate. And she can deliver crisp speeches from a teleprompter — we saw that at the convention. But she wasn’t able to knock Trump down, let alone knock him out, even as he spent the better part of the debate backpedaling. He embarrassed himself more than Harris embarrassed him.
Unfortunately, Trump’s still allowed to lie. Brazenly, bombastically and with what amounts to impunity. ABC’s anchors fact checked him in real-time, as did Harris, but not forcefully enough. Trump has no respect for the office of the presidency, so it isn’t clear why anyone affords him the respect that goes along with that office. He repeatedly refused to answer yes or no questions, repeatedly claimed he won the 2020 election and just generally trafficked in overt falsehoods and absurd balderdash, a predilection that someone, somewhere, should arrest. Because, to hijack his favorite phrase, “It’s killing our country.”
To be sure, Harris was able to get under Trump’s skin. And when she did, he fell apart. The cat-eating diatribe was the direct result of Harris lampooning his rallies and specifically footage from recent campaign events where some supporters in the cheap seats can be seen exiting early, like concertgoers who’ve heard the songs they want to hear and are keen to beat the traffic on the way home. Trump could’ve simply shrugged that off as irrelevant and anyway anecdotal: Who knows why a random family in some small swing state town you’ve never heard of decides to leave a political rally early? Instead — and predictably — he lost his composure and launched into a screed about Haitians kidnapping and eating family pets in Ohio.
Trump returned again and again to the border. That was the right strategy. Headed into the debate, I would’ve told you there was no such thing as “too much border.” Immigration, along with inflation, is the issue where Harris is most vulnerable. But by the end of the proceedings, Trump’s immigration rhetoric was repetitive to the point of exhaustion and his claims pure caricature.
If there was a saving grace for Trump, it was that a lot of voters had surely tuned out by the time he delivered a mostly incoherent closing argument, which veered off into a critique of domestic energy production in Germany, before crash landing in another furious, finger-wagging remonstrance about “these people” and what “they’ve done to our country.”
Later, Trump showed up in the spin room, where a reporter asked about the pet eating. “Oh, it’s true,” Trump insisted. “Take a look at it.” “It’s nonsense,” the reporter told him, flatly. “Well, you can check it out,” Trump responded, before telling the bustling scrum that “I thought this was my best debate.”
A quick check of socials confirmed my impression: that D leaners thought Harris crushed it, while R leaners thought Trump won & blamed any short comings on the moderators. Trump did actually perform well–for Trump. You could even argue he outperformed “expectations.”
What was more interesting: seeing a mutual reacting to the Taylor Swift endorsement of Harris. “Who cares what Taylor Swift thinks?!#(*@&”
You. You care. Clearly you care.
Betfair has a chart showing the realtime change in betting market odds during the debate. Apparently gamblers thought Harris won.
https://betting.betfair.com/betfair-predicts/
(Interactive content, so I’m not sure if that link is going to work for everyone. That said, click around and you’ll find it).
Investors in DJT as well — down 11 percent in the premarket.
Hot damn, 16% now (10:30 AM). Good times.
My local butcher is catering to the Haitian community
Cat 3.99 a pound and dog 4.75 a pound
But, now that Taylor has come out publicly as a cat lady, what might that do to the market for pussy steaks?
Harris crushed him. The moderators fact checked him. He looked like the nut job he is. Winning this debate does not guarantee winning the election though. Taylor swift gave djt the shive right after the debate ended. Not a good night for the Maga faithful.
I would have liked to see Harris clarify that Americans pay the tariffs we implement, not the target countries. Trump seems to believe that a lot of his base doesn’t know that, so it’s fine to say we’re “collecting billions,” which aren’t how tariffs work. Specifically, that a lot of rural voters, Trump’s base, are the most-likely to get impacted negatively by tariffs.
Harris was at her best hitting Trump with semi-personal truth bombs about his rallies losing the energy they had in 2016, etc.. As an extreme narcissist, Trump isn’t able to let his ‘reality’ be encroached on by facts, he has to respond. That’s when the “eating pets” comments can’t be held back any longer. The insanity comes poring out.
I didn’t watch but plan to soon. Trump is probably completely focused on how to cash in if elected thanks to the SCOTUS immunity grant, has zero to give for anything else I’m guessin’.
Does the second paragraph jab at Trumps repetitive rhetorical habit? I found it cleverly amusing to read, maybe it’s just me.
The reality is if you like DJT’s brand nothing about this debate was going to change that perspective and, cognitive dissonance will allow you to think he “won”. Harris’s objective was never to change the mind of the MAGA cult, it was to show everyone who is on the fence who this guy really is. A weak and easily distracted narcissist who can’t stop talking about himself is what she showed everyone else. I think ABC did a fantastic job of fact checking him early but just gave up on moderating by the end. How many times did they let him cut in after he was supposed to be out of time? As irritating as I found that to be, it also consistently reinforced how unhinged he was and how easily Harris was able to unmoor him emotionally. Anyone looking for a guy who can handle difficult situations or say, world leaders, would not be inspired by his performance.
Who did not win: Americans.
Or Citizens of the so-called Civilized World…or the Cats that they serve.
If this is the best we can do–then how much do we really ‘deserve’ any better?
[Not that they are “equal” in relative terms…but how poor both options are in “absolute” terms.]
LESS Cat-in-the-Hat, MORE Cat-o.
Exactly, Americans are not winning, no matter who gets elected.
Looking for data on reaction of independents and undecideds?
Taylor Swift influence is not among folks who are older, politically committed/aware, etc, but among younger people.
Thanks to the Supreme Court, he wouldn’t lose his freedom in such a scenario either as long as he was president and as long as gunning down random civilians was somehow part of his presidential duties.)
You understate the issue: the onus would be on the prosecution to prove that gunning down random civilians was definitely not part of his duties.
We all knew how Trump would act, but she made me realize that she could be a fine president.
Reading over the debate reactions, I’m reminded that a couple months ago, the most popular candidate was “Neither”. The question was if Harris could separate herself enough from Biden to be “Neither”. I was doubtful, because of her incumbency etc. I didn’t think enough about how many voters go on appearance and style – and Harris obviously doesn’t look or act remotely like Biden. She also did a good job in the debate, presented as a normal adult person while using Trump’s ego against him.
Kamala : not the highest IQ.
Trump : nothing good.
Biden : dementia
And we take this “system” seriously ? Expect anything other than mediocrity and worsening of everything ?
Ronald Reagan is ranked 9th by presidential historians.
KH subtly and sometimes directly put him on trial, giving him the opportunity to show off his cra-cra. He did not disappoint.
This democracy is dependent upon an educated electorate. I need proof that the electorate is indeed educated. I know that is too much to ask at this point, but I would feel a lot better if that somehow comes to fruition between now and Election Day. I do think the Swift post after the debate helps around the margin.
Unfortunately i agree with you H the first fifteen min were trump’s best and harris’s worst and i can only imagine most people were done paying attention by then. And there was no death blow.
So I would like to know where we can get pets to eat. There are lots of parks close but the mountain lions and black bear will efficiently dispatch any interlopers. There is the dog park but I think sneaking out with a lab is not really in the cards.
There is the pound but I think if you say something like, “I want a tasty fat one.” You may not get your favorite.
Or is it just goldfish that people eat or occasional pet turtle?