Editorial: Trump trumped

Harris’ strategy of offering bait and allowing her rival to tie himself in one embarrassing knot after another pays off

When the United States Vice President Kamala Harris walked onto the stage for the presidential debate with Donald Trump — the first and probably the last televised encounter with the Republican candidate before the November 5 election —, she had twin challenges before her. First, erase the memory of the debate fiasco by Joe Biden which had forced him to withdraw from the race. Two, present herself as the best choice for American voters. She succeeded in both. In both style and substance, the Democratic candidate dominated her opponent right from the word go. Her strategy of offering bait and allowing her rival to tie himself in one embarrassing knot after another paid off. Marshalling all her prosecutorial skills, she virtually trumped the former president and forced him on the back foot on all key issues, including abortion rights, immigration, economy and foreign policy. Harris played offence, knocking Trump off his game in a way no previous opponent could do. At the end of the 90-minute debate, the maverick Republican was reduced to angrily sputtering conspiracy theories and going on a self-boasting trip. She needled the former president about the size of the crowds at his rallies and insisted that global leaders have told her that he is “weak” and a “disgrace.” When Trump bragged that the war in Ukraine would never have happened had he been in office and declared he would end it as soon as he was elected because of his relationship with Vladimir Putin, Harris responded that the dictator “would eat you for lunch.”

That such a comeuppance for Trump came from Harris, a person who embodies so much of what he has long railed against — a black woman and the child of immigrants from liberal California — made it all the more karmic for Democrats. The two candidates represented contrasting narratives. As is his wont, Trump resorted to personal slurs, barbs and outright lies — claiming at one stage that illegal immigrants were eating away the pets of Americans — and repeated the ridiculous claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Harris, on the other hand, focused on the future and struck a more positive tone about how the American people have more in common than what separates them. She reiterated her previous points about supporting small businesses, families, bringing down the cost of living, and protecting fundamental rights and freedoms. She implored the nation to escape from the viciousness that has defined its recent politics, while Trump dubbed America as a “failing nation” in which crime is soaring and immigrants are violently taking over small towns. More than anything, the upcoming election is about change, of which Harris repeatedly reminded voters during the debate. She positioned the election as a choice between picking a president who wants to move America forward and someone who wants to take it backwards.

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