Tipsheet

Trump Missed a Chance to Deliver the Knockout Blow to Kamala, But It Might Not Matter

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  September 11, 2024 6:30 AM

The opportunity was there, and Donald Trump blew it. Last night, he faced off against Kamala Harris, David Muir, and Linsey Davis. The moderators were a mess, which I’ll dive into separately later this morning. It was an expected occurrence, but that’s also unnerving about the former president’s performance. The man had issues containing his cool.

Trump has been through the wringer with the media, the Democratic Party, and a weaponized Department of Justice. Arguably, he’s the most persecuted and investigated candidate in presidential history—I can understand the frustration. But winning this election is what’s going to silence the Left forever. He had a wide berth, and he watched many pitches go by. Remember when he told Sean Hannity he was going to let Harris talk and wreck herself? That didn't exactly happen. It did start well, though:

On immigration, Kamala Harris didn’t answer the question from Muir about her time as the border czar. Trump opted to repeat how criminal aliens are destroying the country while pushing back against other lies in the previous abortion segment, which was also messy. Trump could have easily pivoted toward her non-answer, highlighted it, and used it as exhibit A in how Harris is unqualified to be president and how her fingerprints are all over the loss of operational control of the border. He could’ve hammered home how her ‘change’ narrative is fool’s gold due to her being in the White House over the past three years.

Regarding abortion, we knew this was where Kamala was going to try and trip up Trump. She succeeded only because she kept lying about his position. I thought Trump delivered an excellent response on the nuance inherent in this issue vis-à-vis federalism. Still, the vice president brought up the rape and incest pregnancies, which are exceedingly rare, and lied about Trump wanting to push a national ban. Trump has made it clear he wouldn’t sign it, but fearful of losing pro-life voters, he walked a waffled line when pressed by the moderators. It devolved into a mess of an answer. To the shock of no one, the live fact-check was also wrong; former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said what Trump was referring to during a radio interview. 

The moderators started some of the mayhem that engulfed the former president, especially when the 2020 election became a subject of discussion. It triggered a rant from Trump, though the most apparent sign of Harris “chumming the waters” dealt with her swipe at his rally sizes. He couldn’t help himself—he took the bait. The moderators also aided in this effort, too. 

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Trump needed to be disciplined. He got knocked off message for a good chunk of the debate. His best lines came at the beginning and the end of the debate, but it was choppy in between. All Harris had to do was not collapse like Joe Biden did in June, and she succeeded. 

On the Middle East, Trump had an avenue to take Harris to the cleaners over her party’s embrace of antisemitism and pro-Hamas propaganda, how Democrats have enabled these folks out of fear of losing Michigan, and her operation’s outreach to Muslim voter groups about an arms embargo on Israel, something that the United Kingdom partially enacted last week. Her campaign denies it, just as they’ve denied Harris’ former positions. Again, the line is that Harris is unqualified; you don’t know the real Kamala, and she’ll do anything to win. Instead, he personally attacked Kamala as a poor leader and negotiator, which is fair, but move on, sir. In his charged states, Trump bypassed his foreign policy achievements, like the Abraham Accords, squeezing Iran of funds for their terrorist operations, and moving the embassy to Jerusalem. 

Trump was sloppier than his first outing, but did Kamala have a dominant night? I wouldn’t say that, but like anything with Trump—this will become a political Rorschach test. Harris was assisted mightily by the moderators, never answered the question, and if she kept her responses to two minutes or under, I have Whittaker Chambers’ pumpkin for you. Her body language during the portion where Trump’s legal cases were discussed was also atrocious, where pollster Frank Luntz only added to the notion that these trials were politically motivated. Well, they were. Again, one thing is clear: Harris became more comfortable when she saw Trump enter tirades after taking the bait. 

Commentators who aren’t die-hard Trump supporters but also not pro-Harris seem to note that neither candidate could knock out the other during last night’s bout. I’d take that, but it was an opportunity where Trump could have shown he’s not a bull in a China closet when you mock something as irrelevant as rally sizes. Take it easy, sir. Stay calm and collected. The nation already knows Biden-Harris is a trainwreck. The former president missed a prime opportunity to make a sustained argument as to why this White House is incompetent. It’s the ‘I told you so’ tour, and Trump got a bit too invested on January 6, the 2020 election, rally sizes, and the DOJ. 

If Trump had been prepared for these topics, he would have delivered the proper responses. Lara Trump seemed to have alluded that they knew ABC News would be a hack job, so why was Trump off-balance for a significant portion of the debate?

Harris wants a second debate. Trump should do it, but only with Fox News.  

Right now, based on the snap polls, it looks like Trump won the debate, but even if it's a draw, I'd take it.

Look, no matter what, I'm voting for Donald J. Trump. I just wanted to get into that endzone and truly demoralize the Left, torture them in the final weeks of this race, knowing it's all over. Trump whiffed in delivering that death blow. 

***

UPDATE: Kamala couldn't make a dent regarding a core issue last night. This is also why Kamala wants to bait Trump all the time. 

Progressive reporter Michael Tracey called it a draw. Apologies, folks. I was remiss in forgetting Kamala touting the Dick Cheney endorsement. A Democratic presidential candidate did that last night; what a time to be alive: