The first presidential debate went the way most people expected it to go with both candidates arguing and insulting one another. While a few good points were brought up, most of the debate was the candidates arguing with one another instead of talking about their platforms.
The debate began on a relatively good note, both of the candidates met for the first time as presidential candidates and shook hands for the first time since the pandemic, but that was the last time they were formal with one another. After a few back and forths, the candidates started launching attacks at one another, with Harris launching the first direct attack at Trump after his commentary on abortion.
Harris refrained from making references to political policies beyond stating reproductive rights should be allowed federally. Trump, on the other hand, started talking about how before Roe v. Wade was overturned, states were allowed to have abortions into the ninth month and beyond and then commented that he gave abortion back to the states and to the people.
The next point following abortion was immigration, which is where things started to get heated between the candidates. Trump was very vocal about his stance on immigration with him stating we need to prevent “illegals” from entering the country. Trump shocked many after he insinuated that migrants residing in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets.
From this point on, the candidates were going after each other in every point they made with each candidate eventually straight out ignoring the moderator’s questions and attempting to move the discussion along just to respond to the claim made by the other person.
At one point, the Affordable Care Act was brought up and the only worthwhile thing that came from that was Trump “has concepts of a plan” to make healthcare better for all while Harris believes the act should stay and be made better. Once again, not one of these candidates had any actual solutions but instead went to attack each other over this topic as well.
Around the middle of the debate, the moderators asked the candidates their positions on domestic affairs regarding Gaza and the Ukraine war. Harris was asked about Israel and kept up with the same stance that the Biden administration has had, which is Israel has to defend itself from Hamas, the terrorist organization, separating Hamas and the Palestinian people.
Once the candidates started talking about Ukraine, things once again got heated. Trump launched insults at Harris, blaming her for why the war even happened, and citing how other leaders feared him and which would have prevented the war from starting.
Some of the other discussion points that led nowhere included Jan 6. Harris accused Trump of inciting the insurrection while Trump defended himself saying he told the crowd to protest “peacefully and patriotically.”
Harris also brought up the point of Trump’s multiple felony cases that are ongoing as well as his 34 felony charges. Trump’s response to this was that he is winning most of the cases and will win on appeal. Trump then proceeded to claim that the Democrats weaponized the Department of Justice to target where Harris rebutted his claim.
The debate was a nightmare to watch. As the debate progressed, the intended topics got less clear due to the candidates returning to prior topics to further attack their opposing candidate. Domestic policies led to Trump calling Harris “weak,” while Harris said Trump is friends with dictatorial countries.
After all is said and done, the winner of the debate is no one. This debate was entertaining if you like watching adult politicians argue with one another instead of actually trying to have change occur in our nation. The candidates argued at one another saying that the other would destroy the nation if they were to win the presidential election, but yet neither of them offered any real solutions on how to fix issues. In this debate, there was definitely no winner but there is a definite loser, and that loser is the American people.
