Tipsheet

Voter Reactions to the ABC News Debate Were Not Good...for Kamala

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  September 11, 2024 12:15 PM

Donald Trump didn’t clinch a decisive win last night, though he had his chances. That’s what’s so frustrating. Kamala Harris wasn’t good, but also not a total disaster like Joe Biden was in June. She got under Trump’s skin, with the former president taking the bait on rally size and the 2020 election. Trump sounded and looked flustered over these topics, plus January 6 and the weaponization of the Justice Department. The more he spoke less about policy, the more comfortable Kamala became—that’s not good. There were chances to land a haymaker to knock her out, and Trump failed. Instead of demoralizing Democrats, we will now hear about how Kamala shifted the race. 

The ABC News debate was a disaster from a moderator standpoint, with David Muir and Linsey Davis exhibiting gross bias, also laying traps for Trump like the question about Kamala Harris' racial identity. Trump was facing Harris, Muir, and Davis last night. If you want to say it was a draw, that’s fair, but the fact Trump couldn’t bury Harris on policy is what irks me. It was there. Yet, as I noted earlier this morning, it might not matter. The CNN snap poll on who won showed Harris running away with it. Yet, on the crucial issue of the economy, she lost ground. It was already at a paltry 37 percent; it dropped to 35. 

We had voters saying how Trump, by default essentially, is more trusted on immigration. ABC News even admitted post-debate that Harris didn’t answer the questions. One voter in a CNN focus group said that when it comes down to brass tacks, her life was better under Trump—this was an undecided voter:

This poll is the one the media will focus on:

And yet:

Recommended

Could This Be the Real Reason Why Trump Nominated Matt Gaetz As Attorney General? Matt Vespa
This NYT Post-Election Focus Group of Young Voters Is Brutal for the Media...and Incredible for JD Vance Guy Benson

We’re in Rorschach territory on this one: those who thought Kamala dominated will see that while other voters will think Trump bested her. Let’s revisit this once the latest wave of polls are released. No, I don’t think Trump lost, but he didn’t win either.

Harris’ campaign wants a second debate, though Trump was left in the spin room to answer that question since the Harris camp absconded to a fundraiser instead.

Regardless, because Harris “won” the CNN debate poll, despite losing ground on handling the economy, expect a lot of funny takes from the media on how Harris made Trump meet his Waterloo when that's not the case.