Let's Talk About the Trump-Harris Debate

Yesterday, I shared concerns about Trump’s upcoming debate with Kamala Harris. Sadly, those fears were confirmed.

It seems Trump was lulled into a false sense of security, likely believing he won his debate with Joe Biden back in June. As I mentioned before, Trump didn’t win that debate—Biden simply lost, and lost badly. But Trump clearly didn’t see it that way, and he entered this debate with Kamala underprepared and overconfident as a result.

Kamala Harris, however, came in prepared—perhaps a bit too much. She did the same thing we saw her do in her interview with Dana Bash on CNN last month, taking direct questions and responding with her own rehearsed script, even if that meant not answering the actual question. But, another part of her strategy was to bait Trump, and Trump, unfortunately, played right into her hands by taking the bait virtually every time.

Here’s what I wrote yesterday before the debate:

All I know is that if Trump walks in with the same level of aggression and lack of focus that he has demonstrated recently—including in his debate with Joe Biden—Harris won’t have to be good, she’ll just have to be better than expected. Why? Because the media will do the rest for her.

And that’s what is happening now.

That’s not to say there weren’t some good things about Trump’s performance. He landed some solid points on the economy, crime, and border security, but he was the same old Trump we’ve seen countless times at rallies and debates. He needed to be better than his past performances, not the same.

Of course, what made things worse was the role the moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, played. It’s almost hard to believe, but looking back at the June debate, CNN’s moderators, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, were fair and objective by comparison. This time, the moderators fact-checked Trump live while giving Kamala a free pass with her countless lies. It was one-sided and infuriating, but I can’t blame the moderators for Trump’s lack of focus.

Trump had a golden opportunity to pin Kamala down on the disastrous Biden-Harris policies, but instead he got sucked into personal exchanges. Kamala baited him on topics like his rallies, 2020 election claims, and the Central Park Five. And instead of staying on the issues, Trump engaged in these distractions, letting Harris steer the conversation away from policy, allowing him to run down his clock and have less time to talk about the issues that people care about.

Trump did have some bright spots during the debate, particularly when it came to hitting hard on the economy, crime, and border security. But the problem is, we’ve seen this same Trump performance before—whether at rallies or in past debates. This time, he needed to raise his game, and instead, he played it safe.

What made matters worse was the bias displayed by the moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis. Believe it or not, when you compare their performance to CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper in June, those two actually come off as fair. This time around, Trump was fact-checked in real-time, while Kamala Harris was allowed to spew one falsehood after another without challenge. It was frustrating to watch, but we can’t blame the moderators entirely for Trump losing focus. (RELATED: Five Takeaways From the Trump-Harris Debate)

Trump had a golden opportunity to press Kamala on the disastrous Biden-Harris policies, but instead, he let her draw him into personal squabbles. She baited him on issues like his rallies, the 2020 election, and the Central Park Five, and he took the bait every time. Rather than keeping the conversation on policy, he allowed these distractions to eat up valuable time—time that could’ve been spent on the issues voters actually care about.

The bigger question is why Trump keeps falling into this trap. Every time he’s in a presidential campaign, it’s like he’s more interested in the adoration of rally crowds than in preparing for debates. And it shows, over and over again.