By Isabella Gallagher-Rattan
Last night, thousands tuned into the highly-anticipated presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the presidential candidates for the 2024 elections in the USA. But who emerged triumphant and won? That answer depends on who you ask, with Trump’s administration claiming he defeated his opponent, but Harris’ administration claiming she won. With the tensions on stage, it makes sense they are still arguing after the debate.
The debate took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a key swing state, and, somewhat thankfully, each opponent’s microphone was muted when the other was speaking.
The debate featured many personal comments from Harris which were designed to throw Trump off his arguments, and clearly worked, with Harris responding to a question about immigration by encouraging Americans to attend an eye-opening Trump rally, to observe the “people leaving early out of exhaustion and boredom”. This distracted Trump from his response on immigration, which was a topic he has a lot to say about, and should have provided a strong answer on, to vehemently defend his rally sizes and insult hers.
Another of Trump’s lows of the debates included a passionate rant about immigrants from Haiti who had moved to Ohio and allegedly kidnapped and eaten their neighbours’ pets. If you thought that seemed far-fetched, that’s because it is. Unfortunately for Trump, the claim has been debunked and proven inaccurate. In addition, Trump continued to spread misinformation by claiming he had won the 2020 election (he lost the popular vote twice in a row), crime rates have risen in the US recently (they have dropped), and attempting to distance himself from the January 6th attack on the Capitol, by blaming others, namely Nancy Pelosi, for the lack of security. Again, unfortunately for Trump, his claims were disputed by Lindsey Davis and David Muir, ABC’s fact checkers.
Harris stayed strong on her positions regarding reproductive rights, fighting Trump’s (false) allegations that Democrats supported executing babies after they were born. Trump also bragged about the overturning of Roe v Wade, which he claimed credit for, however clarifying he believes in exceptions in the case of incest, rape, and threat to the mother’s life. Harris opposed Trump by describing his position “insulting to the women of America”, and explaining the negative impact abortion bans have on women. Harris emphasises the lack of popularity Roe v Wade had by stating “America has voted for freedom”.
Harris also explained her plans to back the economy, particularly her plans to lift the middle class, and reduce tax on small businesses finding their feet, relief for those buying their first home and new parents. Trump claimed he had the “best economy”, bringing to mind the inflation Americans saw under the Biden-Harris administration that fell as quickly as it spiked, settling at 2.9%.
So who won the debate? To find out, I asked some members of the school community to find their stance on the American elections.
“Kamala is very Brat”, Satoko Liddel told the Veritas Times, and explained that she admired how Kamala and her marketing team had used current trends on social media to reach and connect with the younger generation, racking up millions of views on platforms such as TikTok.
Shriya Patel responded to our questions and said she doesn’t know much about the recent debate, and will therefore read this article to find out more. Shriya is also worried that if “Trump comes into power, [the US] could become a totalitarian state.”
Enya McDermott says she believes the US presidential election will affect her because if Donald Trump wins, he will cause political unrest (“World War 3”), a popular opinion. She supports Kamala, and says she has been following the debate and is happy with the outcome.
Jeanie Amos and Romilly Phillips told me they thought “Harris should definitely be president, and she would be the first ever woman of colour as a US president,” and they believe Donald Trump to be an unsuitable presidential candidate due to his sexual assault allegations and his stance on women and immigrants. Romilly told us she was particularly invested in the Presidential race when she was on holiday in the US, and it was extremely relevant.
Similarly to polls regarding the outcome of the debate, St Augustine’s students are heavily in favour of Kamala Harris.