Quick Take: From Bad to Worse

Trump’s lousy debate performance probably means a Harris victory in November

Well, wasn’t that an interesting exchange of views…?

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Here’s the bottom line: Donald Trump blew himself up during his debate with Kamala Harris. And while I agree with those who are denouncing the egregious bias of the debate moderators (see below), that’s no excuse for the former president’s poor showing. In these times, Republican candidates cannot count on fair treatment at the hands of journalists. Trump surely must realize this, but he let the ABC moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, kick him around on the floor. Thin-skinned as always, he took the bait every time he was fact-checked or needled. Nothing showed that more plainly than his meltdown after Harris snidely noted that people were walking out of his rallies early.

Aside from that, Trump was disorganized, rambling, obscure, and curiously unwilling to give a straight answer. When Harris claimed—ludicrously—that if elected he would sign a national abortion ban, Trump didn’t say, No, I would not. Instead, he blathered on about the glories of state control of the abortion issue. He also said that no such bill would ever reach the president’s desk, which is no doubt true. But why the reluctance to go on the record over this no-brainer of an issue? Trump was just a mess.

And Kamala Harris was pretty bad, too. If Trump hadn’t been, well, Trump, he could have mopped the floor with her. The very first question to the Vice President concerned the unpopularity of the Biden Administration—of which, be it recalled, she is a part. But Harris completely ignored the question and went off on a long soliloquy concerning her none-too-detailed plans for an “opportunity economy” and her lifelong devotion to “small business.” Needless to say, the moderators didn’t call her out for her evasiveness, then or later.

Later on, Harris noted that under the Biden Administration, there are no US service member serving in posts of danger anywhere in the world. This must have been news to the sailors deployed to the Red Sea, and to the troops stationed in Iraq and Syria. Anybody but Trump would have picked that chip up off the table and cashed it in. And given her well-known antipathy to Israel and Jews, Harris’ dishonest professions of commitment to the defense of the Jewish state begged to be thrown back in her face. But again, Trump passed. But even so, Harris certainly did nothing to counter the impression that she’s a great big phony. That was plainly apparent.

And finally, the conduct of the ABC debate moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, was absolutely scandalous. They scarcely bothered to conceal their desire to kneecap Trump and help Harris over the finish line. They repeatedly fact checked the former president, while giving the Vice President a pass on every false or disingenuous thing she said. When Trump brought up partial-birth abortion, Harris denied that there was any such thing, and Davis backed her up. What Trump had in mind was former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s horrible comment on the issue—this in the context of a pending bill that would, in effect, have legalized infanticide in Virginia. But characteristically, Trump couldn’t get his point across. So Harris’ lie was allowed to stand.

It remains to be seen how much of an effect this debate will have on the electorate. It certainly won’t change the minds of those who fervently support Trump or fervently oppose him. I have to believe, however, that in such a close election even a few votes switched from one candidate to the other could determine the outcome. And there’s no denying that Donald Trump poor showing in the debate has given still-undecided voters a reason to conclude that no, they just can’t mark their ballots for him. Harris was bad. He was worse.