Did Harris or Trump perform better in the Presidential debate?

Mark (Trump)

Trump’s first debate with Harris successfully exposed her lack of transparency and corruption. Trump answered every question given to him directly and clearly. Harris, conversely, was routinely evasive—we still have no clue where she publicly stands on key issues, such as gun control, nor was she pressed on why she flip-flopped on stances around fracking, building the border wall, or immigration. She blatantly ignored Trump’s claims that the Biden administration, and she personally, failed to de-escalate the growing conflict in Ukraine. 

Trump was forthcoming and characteristically blunt in many instances, never leaving viewers confused by his responses. On immigration, Trump pressed Harris on the dangerous situations in Colorado and Ohio. Harris laughed off these concerns, refusing to address how the last three-and-a-half years have led to chaos as it relates to her open border policy. Trump also pointed out how strong the economy was under his presidency, while Harris could not escape the reality that inflation had increased under her term in office—the Biden-Harris administration created this problem. Trump pointed this out, but many comments and corrections he made were either disregarded or refuted by ABC's biased moderators.

When she did offer something in the way of a definitive answer, Harris was not fact-checked, even though she was outright lying to viewers. For example, she claimed never to have supported defunding the police in 2020, and presents herself as a supporter of stricter border policy when she has, up until now, opposed the border wall. Trump’s strong closing statement reminded voters that Harris has had nearly four years to fix this country, including border security or the economy, yet it remains broken. All this, along with how he had to face a '3 against 1' debate, shows Trump coming out on top against all odds.

Luis (Harris)

While the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris wasn’t exactly a display of quality, the vice president was clearly the event winner. She looked tough and confident in every response she gave, prompting many political analysts who were skeptical of her to say she offered a presidential appearance that could convince undecided voters. She looked like the serious person in the room.

Harris also clearly won the presidential debate in part because of the way Trump lost it in some moments. Likewise, they called out where he delivered a couple of astonishing lies, which immediately became memes on social media. The two most outrageous were on the topics of abortion and immigration, as the former president claimed that some Democratic states allow the execution of babies after being born and that many illegal immigrants in Ohio eat dogs and cats.

Moreover, Harris knew how to get on Trump’s nerves by questioning the sizes of his rallies; the Republican nominee predictably got upset and repeatedly told her she was lying and that she could ask those who organized the rallies the number of people who attended. Also, Harris was the only nominee who consistently said that one of her main goals as president, if elected, would be to unify the country after so many years of polarization. Finally, the vice president didn’t lose her temper at any moment and offered a political change and renovation in the country, along with hope for all Americans. Both nominees had some bad moments at the debate and even asserted some falsehoods. However, Harris seemed to come out considerably better than Trump on the outset of their first presidential debate of the 2024 election season.