'She Baited Him, He Took the Bait': Harris Impresses in Debate With Trump

A CNN poll revealed that 63 percent of debate watchers felt that Kamala Harris had outperformed Donald Trump.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump greeting each other at the beginning of the US presidential debate on Wednesday, 11 September. 

(Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint) 

Kamala Harris dons many hats: vice-president, prosecutor, person of mixed race, and a woman.

Today she donned another one – that of a skillful debater who bested Donald Trump. So much so that Trump, known to have been the 'rattler' of his opponents as seen in face-offs in the past, actually became the 'rattled' in the 90-minute-long ABC debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Many observers state that Harris "cleaned up good" and made up for the damage caused to the Democratic Party due to President Joe Biden's disastrous and incoherent performance in the 27 June parley.

'She Baited Him, And He Took the Bait'

In a number of instances during the debate, while Trump attacked policies of the incumbent government he was unable to come up with answers when asked by moderators about his own plans of action.

"Trump spoke absolute nonsense and the debate was a disaster for him," Sumit Ganguly, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, said while speaking to The Quint. "He kept going on incoherently into the issue of illegal immigration, but he offered no credible plan on how to deal with it."

When asked by one of the moderators what Trump's plan was regarding healthcare, in the backdrop of several jibes he took against Obamacare, he said that he had "concepts of a plan" which would be unveiled in the coming days.

"This is something that he said for four years as president while trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare]," Ganguly said. "At least Harris spelt out specific policies, whether one agrees with them or not. At least she had a plan and distinctive ideas. He said absolutely nothing."

Similarly, when Trump alleged that crime had increased manifold during Biden's tenure in office, Harris quoted FBI records to say that violent crime rates had actually come down in the last few years. In response, Trump said that the FBI was not to be believed.

"How can you run for president and say that the principal criminal investigating body in your country cannot be believed?" Ganguly asked.

Harris Markedly Stands Out 

While there are few who have been praising Trump for his debate performance, including from his own party, many say that Harris' ability to control the narrative came as a surprise for them.

"I feel it's clear by now that Kamala Harris won the debate," Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at the ORF, said while speaking to The Quint. "Being successful in the debate was far more important to her than it was for Trump."

Savita Patel, a US-based senior journalist, said that she started watching the debate thinking that the pressure would be on Harris to perform and that she wouldn't be interacting with Trump much – instead preferring to address the American people directly for them to get to know her and her policies more.

"But I was surprised to see that Harris went on the offensive, which worked really well for her because voters – especially independent voters – understood that she can take him on and not just take a defensive stance and talk about policy," Patel said.

What also stood out for many was the confidence that Harris exuded throughout the debate – despite it being her first presidential face-off.

In the past, several presidential candidates who were noticeably taller than their opponents are said to have used their height to their advantage, holding on to a handshake for much longer on the debate stage to portray a sense of dominance.

While Harris and Trump have one of the largest height differences among presidential candidates in history, that did not deter the vice-president.

"Harris is much shorter than Trump, but she still went out and shook his hand. The fact that she had the confidence not to shy away and instead seek him out and shake his hand just as a civil gesture, that stood out. Trump was certainly not intending to initiate a handshake and was going to walk straight to his podium."

Savita Patel

What's Next for the Presidential Race? 

Going into the debate, both contenders were mostly neck-and-neck in the polls, with extremely small margins of winnability between them. However, experts suggest that the debate could take Harris on to greener pastures as far as surveys are concerned.

"I feel Harris' performance will give her the edge and definitely sway voters," says Murali Kamma, US-based author and journalist who takes a keen interest in American politics.

Kamma further said that while the June debate sealed the fate of Biden's political future, this one might have sealed the fate of Trump's.

"The main task of the debaters was to reach the voters in the middle, not the extremes. Trump already has his base locked up, they're not going anywhere. I think he failed to do it. He was angry, and was just speaking nonsense sometimes. She baited him and he repeatedly took the bait."

Murali Kamma

Similarly, Sumit Ganguly says that Harris used all her prosecutorial skills against Trump – something he couldn't put up with.

"I will be shocked if Harris doesn't get a bump in the polls. My faith in the electorate will significantly decline if that doesn't happen. Unlike Biden, whose debate was an unmitigated disaster, Harris was coherent, articulate, knowledgeable, and she did not fail to punch Trump whenever there was an opportunity," he said.

A CNN poll revealed that a majority of debate-watchers broadly agreed that Harris "outperformed" Trump. As per the survey, 63 percent of respondents said that they were more impressed by the vice-president's performance, compared to 37 percent for the former president. Ahead of the debate, the same voters were split down the middle 50-50.

Among Harris' supporters, 96 percent said that she had done better as compared to 69 percent of Trump's supporters crediting him with victory.

A majority of the panel on Fox News, considered to be pro-Republican, stated that Harris outperformed Trump in the debate. When asked for their opinion, 12 voters on the panel raised their hand in support for Harris as compared to just five for Trump.