Donald Trump’s campaign team promised that their candidate didn’t need debate-prep because he’d be like Muhammad Ali. Kamala Harris wouldn’t know what direction his rhetorical punches would be coming from. His unpredictability would be devastating to Harris in their debate. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
The Ali reference was applicable, but the problem for Donald Trump was that it was Harris who dished out the punches, while Trump fell for the old Ali rope-a-dope. Harris was ready for her opponent, who had previously called her stupid, low-IQ, and a DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) hire. Very mature.
She came onto the ABC News debate stage with a plan. Throw out a quick attack that would trigger a Trump meltdown and then shut up and let Trump punch himself out.
Goaded by well-timed references about rally crowd-size, Trump company bankruptcies, the disdain “his generals” have expressed for him, and early exits by Trump’s “bored” rally-goers, Trump took the bait, like a hooked trout, every time.
If she had commented on the size of his hands his head may have exploded on stage.
Trump responded to Harris’ provocations with unhinged, incoherent rants, and his responses devolved almost into the old schoolyard dialogue of “Oh yeah? Same to YOU.”
While Biden disintegrated in his debate with Trump in June, Trump was only slightly more competent in this go-around.
Oh sure, FOX News labeled debate moderators as unfair, and Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and RFK Jr.talked with Sean Hannity to confirm it. If you’re complaining about the referees, you’re probably losing the game.
Right wing podcasters claimed Harris’ earrings were listening devices and/or she was fed the questions in advance. Trump, despite claiming a debate victory by huge margins , has already noted that the ABC should lose their broadcasting license and/or suggested that the moderators should be jailed. Really? And, he has already refused a second debate with Harris.
Moderators did fact-check whether immigrants were stealing dogs and cats and eating them, and they refuted the claim that some states allowed doctors to murder children after birth,topics that have previously been debunked multiple times. So yes, the most outrageous, already debunked claims, were checked. Harris never claimed that immigrants were cooking up dogs and cats. Yet, Trump is still spouting this wild, unfounded claim at his rallies, two days later.
A CNN poll after the debate showed that 63 percent thought Harris had won. While that seems low, based upon what everyone saw, a poll of independent/undecided voters showed that 92 percent gave Harris the nod.
Trump was unprepared, beginning with a surprise, Harris-initiated, pre-debate handshake, which unnerved Trump before the debate even started.
And, while Harris initially seemed nervous, she quickly found her footing, once she noted how easily she could get Trump to blow up in response to a well-timed crowd-size observation.
If Trump had a strategy, he forgot it once she bruised his ego. Being outmaneuvered and humiliated by a black woman, Trump lost any logical train of thought he might have had going in. His answers were rambling, angry, combative, and, in many cases, nonsensical.
I agree with most conservatives that the Harris plan to give away $25,000 to first time home buyers, and the Biden/Harris attempt at paying off student debt are bad ideas fiscally, especially with U.S. debt where it is. In fact, it is likely that I will oppose much of the Harris agenda.
But….. After Bidenself-destructed in the first debate, I noted that fact in this column and advocated for him to withdraw.
Strong conservatives like Dick Cheney, Adam Kinsinger, and hundreds of other Republicans have committed to the Democratic alternative to Trump.After Tuesday night I do not understand how 45 percent of U.S. voters think that this angry, unhinged, incoherent, old man is the best option to lead this country.
As Kinsinger stated at the Democratic convention, “…democracy knows no party. It’s a living, breathing ideal that defines us as a nation. It’s the bedrock that separates us from tyranny. And when that foundation is fractured, we must all stand together united to strengthen it.
If you think those principles are worth defending, then I urge you: Make the right choice. Vote. Vote for our bedrock values. And vote for Kamala Harris.”
Will it matter that Harris won this debate so decisively? Maybe not since partisanship sometimes blinds us to the obvious.
But maybe. Maybe it will matter that Trump reminded us of who Trump is, while losing to an opponent he had labeled as stupid. Maybe it will matter that hundreds of Republicans, who worked in previous Republican administrations, and in Trump’s administration, have come forward to support Harris.
After all, when would you ever expect Dick Cheney and Taylor Swift to throw their support behind the same candidate?
Curt MacRae is a resident of Coldwater, MI, and publishes opinion columns regularly.
Tweets @curtmacrae — comments to rantsbymac@gmail.com
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