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In Debate With Trump, Harris’s Expressions Were a Weapon

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3 months ago

September 12, 2024

Instead of attacking former President Donald Trump as an existential threat to democracy during their debate appearance, Vice President Kamala Harris invited voters to judge the former president for themselves.Credit…The ABC News Presidential Debate

Follow along with live updates and debate analysis on the Trump and Harris campaigns.

She turned to him with an arched brow. A quiet sigh. A hand on her chin. A laugh. A pitying glance. A dismissive shake of her head.

From the opening moments of her first debate against Donald J. Trump, Kamala Harris craftily exploited her opponent’s biggest weakness.

Not his record. Not his divisive policies. Not his history of inflammatory statements.

Instead, she took aim at a far more primal part of him: his ego.

At his rallies, on his sycophantic social media network and surrounded by flatterers at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump is unquestioned, unchallenged and never ever mocked.

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That changed over the course of 90 minutes in Philadelphia on Tuesday, when the woman who had never before met him succeeded, bit by bit, in puncturing his comfortable cocoon and triggering his annoyance and anger.

Ms. Harris questioned the size and loyalty of the crowds at his rallies. She said world leaders call him a “disgrace.” And she claimed his fortune was built by his father, recasting a business mogul who proudly boasts of being a self-made man as just another nepotism baby.

Then she stood by and watched, as Mr. Trump did himself a whole lot of damage.

Image
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump standing onstage behind their lecterns. Mr. Trump is turned to the side, looking down, and Ms. Harris is looking at a notepad.
Ms. Harris worked to puncture Mr. Trump’s comfortable cocoon and trigger his annoyance and anger.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
In answer after answer, the former president reminded Americans of his role in so much of what many would rather forget: the deadly and devastating pandemic, his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, a bloody siege on the U.S. Capitol and the fall of Roe v. Wade. He lingered on his criminal charges and praised Viktor Orban, the strongman leader of Hungary. He defended a false claim that migrants in Ohio are eating their neighbors’ dogs and cats and recycled years-old anti-abortion attack lines that Democrats supported “execution after birth.”

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In such a fractured and polarized country, it remains unclear how the lopsided debate may alter the 2024 presidential race. But the immediate reaction was telling: Mr. Trump led Republicans in attacking the moderators — the debate was “three-on-one,” he complained — while Democrats notched perhaps the most important endorsement of the election cycle with Taylor Swift.

“He is so easy to trigger,” Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Harris ally, said in the post-debate spin room.

Image
Gavin Newsom speaking while surrounded by reporters and photographers holding cameras and cellphones.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California spoke to reporters after the debate.Credit…Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Since her head-spinning ascension to the Democratic ticket in July, Ms. Harris has faced a race focused on her record, history and shifts in positions. But from the moment she crossed the stage to shake Mr. Trump’s hand, the Democratic presidential nominee made clear her intention to transform a night expected to be about her into a referendum on him.

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She displayed a composure and tactical restraint that was palpable through the television screen. Equally palpable was his fury, which at times seemed to make him unable to even look at his opponent.

“She’s a Marxist — everybody knows she’s a Marxist,” Mr. Trump said when Ms. Harris accused him of coddling China during the coronavirus pandemic. “Her father is a Marxist professor in economics, and he taught her well.”

Ms. Harris looked at him with a condescending smile, performatively leaning in to hear more. He’s the former reality television star, but she clearly understood the power of the medium. Her expression was her rebuttal. And when her turn to speak came, she focused not on rebutting the attacks on her character and ideology, but on the far more politically potent issue of abortion rights.

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Mr. Trump, she charged, would ban abortion nationwide and monitor women’s pregnancies to ensure they carried the baby to term. Already, current restrictions in some states, she told viewers, make no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.

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“That is immoral and one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said.

Instead of attacking Mr. Trump as an existential threat to democracy, as President Biden so often did, Ms. Harris invited voters to judge the former president for themselves. She urged them to attend one of his campaign events, hear his references to “fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter” and his claims that “windmills cause cancer,” and watch his followers leave early.

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Trump and Harris Clash in a Fiery Presidential Debate
In their first face-to-face meeting, Kamala Harris put Donald Trump on the defensive as the former president tried to tie her to unpopular Biden administration policies.
“Kamala Harris. Let’s have a good debate.” “Nice to see you, have fun.” “Thank you.” “You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.” “Your running mate, JD Vance, has said that you would veto if it did come to your desk.” “Well, I didn’t discuss it with JD, in all fairness.” “She copied Biden’s plan. And it’s like four sentences — like, ‘Run, Spot, Run’ — four sentences that are just, ‘Oh, we’ll try and lower taxes.’ She doesn’t have a plan.” “Let’s not go back. We’re not going back. It’s time to turn the page. Let’s turn the page. Turn the page on this same, old, tired rhetoric.”

Trump and Harris Clash in a Fiery Presidential Debate

1:24

In their first face-to-face meeting, Kamala Harris put Donald Trump on the defensive as the former president tried to tie her to unpopular Biden administration policies.CreditCredit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
“The one thing you will not hear him talk about is you,” she said into the camera. “You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams and your desires, and I’ll tell you, I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first, and I pledge to you that I will.”

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Mr. Trump quickly responded, but not to dispute her criticism that he was not tuned into voters’ needs. Instead, he defended his crowds.

“People don’t leave my rallies,” Mr. Trump said. “We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

By the end of the debate, Ms. Harris turned one of the worst moments of the Biden presidency — the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan — into an attack on Mr. Trump, saying he “negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine” with the Taliban and invited its leaders to Camp David.

Even Mr. Trump’s allies grudgingly admitted the Harris strategy of trying to knock Mr. Trump off-balance was effective.

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“She spent 90 minutes attacking Donald Trump, trying to get under his skin, to do everything to get away from her record as vice president of the United States,” Representative Byron Donalds of Florida said. “He defended himself like any human being would.”

Image
Representative Byron Donalds looking into a camera while reporters hold up cellphones in front of him.
Representative Byron Donalds of Florida speaking with reporters in the spin room.Credit…Kenny Holston/The New York Times
In recent weeks, as the burst of enthusiasm around Ms. Harris’s candidacy has tempered, the questions about her policy positions and plans have grown. Very few were answered Tuesday night.

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Instead, Ms. Harris used the opportunity to explicitly appeal to the moderate voters and anti-Trump Republicans who helped deliver the White House to Mr. Biden in 2020. It’s a group Ms. Harris has struggled to win by the same margin and one that could, once again, play a decisive role in November.

As the governors, senators, activists and political gadflies spun his performance in the post-debate spin room, a surprise guest suddenly appeared and was swarmed by more than 100 journalists.

It was Donald Trump. Presidential candidates rarely — if ever — spin their own performances in the minutes after exiting the stage. But Mr. Trump couldn’t let it go.

“It was,” he said, “my best debate ever.”

Lisa Lerer is a national political reporter for The Times, based in New York. She has covered American politics for nearly two decades. More about Lisa Lerer

Reid J. Epstein covers campaigns and elections from Washington. Before joining The Times in 2019, he worked at The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Newsday and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. More about Reid J. Epstein

See more on: 2024 Elections: News, Polls and Analysis, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump
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In Debate With Trump, Harris’s Expressions Were a Weapon
Tuesday’s debate was expected to center on defining Kamala Harris. Instead, with words and with body language, she turned it into a referendum on Donald Trump.

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Six images of Kamala Harris with distinctly different facial expressions.
Instead of attacking former President Donald Trump as an existential threat to democracy during their debate appearance, Vice President Kamala Harris invited voters to judge the former president for themselves.Credit…The ABC News Presidential Debate
Lisa LererReid J. Epstein
By Lisa Lerer and Reid J. Epstein
Lisa Lerer reported from New York and Reid J. Epstein reported from the debate in Philadelphia.

Sept. 11, 2024
Updated 2:04 p.m. ET
Sign up for the On Politics newsletter. Your guide to the 2024 elections. Get it sent to your inbox.

Follow along with live updates and debate analysis on the Trump and Harris campaigns.

She turned to him with an arched brow. A quiet sigh. A hand on her chin. A laugh. A pitying glance. A dismissive shake of her head.

From the opening moments of her first debate against Donald J. Trump, Kamala Harris craftily exploited her opponent’s biggest weakness.

Not his record. Not his divisive policies. Not his history of inflammatory statements.

Instead, she took aim at a far more primal part of him: his ego.

At his rallies, on his sycophantic social media network and surrounded by flatterers at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump is unquestioned, unchallenged and never ever mocked.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Then she stood by and watched, as Mr. Trump did himself a whole lot of damage.

In answer after answer, the former president reminded Americans of his role in so much of what many would rather forget: the deadly and devastating pandemic, his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, a bloody siege on the U.S. Capitol and the fall of Roe v. Wade. He lingered on his criminal charges and praised Viktor Orban, the strongman leader of Hungary. He defended a false claim that migrants in Ohio are eating their neighbors’ dogs and cats and recycled years-old anti-abortion attack lines that Democrats supported “execution after birth.”

“He is so easy to trigger,” Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Harris ally, said in the post-debate spin room.

Since her head-spinning ascension to the Democratic ticket in July, Ms. Harris has faced a race focused on her record, history and shifts in positions. But from the moment she crossed the stage to shake Mr. Trump’s hand, the Democratic presidential nominee made clear her intention to transform a night expected to be about her into a referendum on him.

liveUpdates
33m ago
Poll Tracker
Who Won the Debate?
Takeaways
Undecided Voters React
Key Issues
news analysis

Sept. 11, 2024
Updated 2:04 p.m. ET
Sign up for the On Politics newsletter. Your guide to the 2024 elections. Get it sent to your inbox.

Follow along with live updates and debate analysis on the Trump and Harris campaigns.

She turned to him with an arched brow. A quiet sigh. A hand on her chin. A laugh. A pitying glance. A dismissive shake of her head.

From the opening moments of her first debate against Donald J. Trump, Kamala Harris craftily exploited her opponent’s biggest weakness.

Not his record. Not his divisive policies. Not his history of inflammatory statements.

Instead, she took aim at a far more primal part of him: his ego.

At his rallies, on his sycophantic social media network and surrounded by flatterers at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump is unquestioned, unchallenged and never ever mocked.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Then she stood by and watched, as Mr. Trump did himself a whole lot of damage.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

“He is so easy to trigger,” Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Harris ally, said in the post-debate spin room.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

She displayed a composure and tactical restraint that was palpable through the television screen. Equally palpable was his fury, which at times seemed to make him unable to even look at his opponent.

Mr. Trump, she charged, would ban abortion nationwide and monitor women’s pregnancies to ensure they carried the baby to term. Already, current restrictions in some states, she told viewers, make no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.

liveUpdates
34m ago
Poll Tracker
Who Won the Debate?
Takeaways
Undecided Voters React
Key Issues
news analysis