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As you may recall, there was a great shock among Democrats after the US Presidential debate held in CNN studios before Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election. According to polls, approximately 70 percent of the public thought that Republican President Trump won the debate. This devastation meant the end of the road for the current Joe. He could not withstand the pressure and withdrew from the race. After that, the first goal of the new democratic candidate Kamala Harris, was to enter a new live debate with the marginal former president and become assertive by defeating him. In this context, the Trump Harris live debate was of great importance.
In this stage, we would like to state that; The American people attach great importance to these live debate performances, which are held at least once before every presidential election. These live debates are very decisive for the so-called “Swing States”, which are states where voting decisions vary. At this point, this debate, which took place in September 2024 in ABC News studios, was different from the first one. Donald lied again and even had some of his mistakes corrected by the moderator. Kamala was laughing out loud in this moment, young and dynamic. In the polls conducted after this live debate, unlike the first one, the Democratic candidate was found to be more successful. 65 percent of the survey participants showed K. Harris as the winner of this live debate, while only 35 percent showed Donald Jr. Trump as the winner of the debate.
We will evaluate this important event impartially and evaluate its possible effects on the presidential elections of November 5, 2024.
Trump Harris Live Debate Rules
Meanwhile, the Republican candidate announced to his opponent that he would not appear on a live broadcast again. According to him, he was the winner of the debate and only the losing boxers would want to fight again. As we previously mentioned in our article on the Trump-Biden 2024 presidential debate, some changes were made to the live debates this year. These changes were also applied to the presidential debate held in ABC studios after CNN.
Some of these rule changes:
- No party supporters were allowed in this debate either.
- One candidate’s microphone was turned off to prevent the other candidate from interrupting him while he was speaking.
- The traditional opening speech was not given.
- On the other hand, unlike previous years, ABC News television gave commercial breaks in this year’s debate. It is clear that this approach was to make more money.
On the other hand, it should be noted that these rules were accepted by both parties. In other words, the rival parties first agreed on these rules and then the Trump Harris live debate took place. In addition, Donald’s very aggressive behaviour during the live broadcast in 2020, constantly interrupting his opponent and preventing him from speaking, is the main reason for some rule changes that took place this year. First of all, the claims that these rules are used in favour of the other side, as stated by each side separately, are unfounded. In other words, the main purpose here is not to give an advantage to one of the candidates, but to create a healthy discussion environment. Let’s not forget that it is easy to be a fanatic, but it is difficult to make political analysis with an impartial eye.
Trump Performance
The former president, who was considered certain to become the 47th president of the United States just a few months ago, was not very well-received in his performance in the Trump Harris live debate. Although campaign spokespeople and FOX NEWS claimed that Donald was the winner, baseless claims such as “immigrants slaughter and eat live pets” were used by him. At this point, the moderators (David Muir and Linsey Davis) had to intervene again and made a statement saying “there is no such incident officially recorded.” The former president, who based his perspective in the debate on the fact that his opponent was a complete Marxist, wanted to deeply scare the American people by stating that they were facing a Marxist candidate, just like the fear of communism during the Cold War.
He also stated that K. Harris also shared the economic and political failures of current president Joe Biden and that he was an unsuccessful vice president.
Donald Trump also stated that if he became president, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately and a ceasefire would be established in Gaza. He also made marginal statements such as if Harris won the election, Israel would be destroyed by its Middle Eastern enemies within 2 years. At this point, let us state that the issue of abortion is also a problematic issue for the former president. While a significant majority of the American people and women defend that abortion is a right, Trump has stated that he is a complete conservative on this issue and that he stands behind states that ban abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy. This perspective is a perspective that Democrats oppose. The reaction of swing state voters to this issue is a matter of curiosity.
Immigration is Crucial!
The 45th US President also used very harsh rhetoric against his opponent regarding immigration, emphasizing: “Because of the Democrats’ mismanagement, criminals and madmen are flocking to our country, especially the Mexican border.”
Stating that he was subjected to an assassination attempt because of his Democratic party statements, the Republican candidate stated that he even got shot because of them. He also stated that he would impose a 20 percent additional customs duty on imported goods and that he would support domestic producers. On the other hand, he declared that he would abolish the tax on tips, aiming to gain additional support from the middle class.
Harris Impact
First of all, we should state that the performance of the new Democratic candidate was highly appreciated after the scandalous Biden performance in June. After providing this information, let’s come to the September debate with the new Democratic candidate. If we look at the Trump Harris live debate from the Democrats’ perspective, Kamala is the undisputed winner of this debate.
Indeed, many Democratic publications, especially CNN International, declared her the winner. At first glance, her youth and smiling face were her biggest pluses. On the other hand, sometimes her “too much” and “unnecessary” laughter during the debate caused her to receive minus points. Harris started the debate by stating that “we have been trying for a long time to solve many problems and confusions that arose during the D. Trump period” as vice president. Then, she stated that she “believes in the dreams and ambitions of the American people”.
Meanwhile, she stated that the 20 percent import customs duty that Donald mentioned would mean an increase prices of in all goods and that this would be a great economic blow to the middle-class American people. On the issue of abortion, the Democratic candidate stated that women’s choices should be respected, and said that he did not hate Israel, but on the contrary, he believed in the right of this country to defend itself. On the other hand, he stated that thousands of Palestinian children and innocents had died in this conflict and that a ceasefire should be established as soon as possible.
Economy Issue
The Democratic candidate, who stated that he believed in a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue, was the leading party in the Trump Harris live debate vote at this point. In addition, his long, sarcastic laugh at the claim that immigrants were eating their pets was one of the important moments that was recorded.
Finally, it should be noted that Kamala stated that people were tired of Trump and that they were leaving the area early at his rallies and that other world leaders were making fun of him.
Trump Harris Live Debate Result
Before moving on to the results of this live debate, we would like to point out that in the latest poll conducted by the Real Clear Politics index, Kamala Harris received 48.4 percent of the votes and Donald Trump received 47.3 percent. In other words, the situation is so close right now that even if there is a very small effect as a result of the Trump Harris live debate, it will have a very big impact on the overall election. At this point, according to the first polls conducted after the debate, the rate of those who think Kamala Harris won the debate is 65 percent, while the rate of those who think Donald Trump won is only 35 percent.
In other words, it is clear that this situation is much better than Biden’s performance. The fact that the new candidate is “young” and a woman has had a great impact on Hispanic, black and female voters. In addition, his more sensible messages on immigrants and abortion were other issues that made him a plus.
When we bring all these together and make a clear analysis, the result we encounter is the fact that neither candidate has a clear advantage over the other. In other words, there is no superiority similar to the superiority of Trump in June in this debate. In addition, the Republican candidate’s campaign spokespeople claimed that they were the clear winners of this debate. The Democratic party spokespeople, despite their victory, stated that they were ready for another Trump Harris live debate in October. Donald’s team said no to this call, stating that only the losers would want to box again.
As we have stated before, although there are 50 days left until the election, this is a very long time for politics.
