I've been pretty critical of Trump's strategy lately but I think the debate was him at his recent best. Funny moments, high energy, successfully avoided a lot of landmines. Seems like people wanted him to be washed out and "reserved" or something but he actually went off script. I personally prefer this version of Trump. He wasn't overly nasty or anything but didn't make it boring either. You could tell his words were his own and not written by a focus group.
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We know he won decisively because the Harris campaign is already asking for a rematch. If they believed she won they would not be wanting a second debate.
I also want to throw in an additional observation. President Trump looked much younger than his age. Even his hair appeared to be styled differently and it made him look much younger.
I thought that too...
Yeah he looked like a zoomer lol
He did very well with the 3 on 1 strategy.
I don't think people are disappointed in how Trump did as much as they're disappointed that Cackles didn't tank like FJB...
I think this is true. A real debate, Trump won on points. By a lot.
Anyone who was expecting that is crazy imo. Kamala did exactly how I expected her to. People just tend to let bias cloud their vision.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean. The reason she didn't tank is because she obviously got the softball, moderator supported questions in advance. Trump held his own even with her being totally supported...
I think it's a mistake to believe something will keep happening just because it happened once. Biden and Kamala both have very different situations and it doesn't make sense to think she'd "tank" in any meaningful way based on her past performances. I basically expected her to be exactly as she was, and it didn't impress me at all personally. I think Trump was funny and got in a lot of good moments.
Thanks for clarifying.... I agree with you...
40,000 ft view. Harris did just good enough not to be swapped out for big Mike. The strategy was obviously to get Trump to respond to lies. This was a good thing, believe it or not. Lots of people tuning in for the first time. He debunked most of the lies. Canceling out much of their future attacks. This also gave more fodder for the Kamala now and then campaign ads.
I noticed what scared the moderators was the pet eating and the late term abortion. Giving good items to go forward on.
It’s always easier to come up with Trump should have said when you are not on the stage. But I wish at during the closing remarks that he would have said: I am the peace and prosperity president and the prosperity will be way greater in my next term.
your first sentence made me laugh out loud.
That thing about fracking and energy was completely incomprehensible
Trump does this thing where he will NOT complete his sentences
WE know what he is saying, but he's not there for us, he's there for the center, and they do NOT know what in the actual shit he's talking about unless he completes his sentences. This made him look as bad as we say Biden is.
He thinks too fast for his mouth to keep up!
Yes, we know what he is saying because we can fill in the blanks, knowing him well. But for people not that used to him, it can indeed come off as disjointed.
Of course this was not Really a debate as long at Trump is being forced to 'debate' harris and two liberal controllers that ADD their Own opinion of what is 'False' in his statements, without any Proof of their opinion. Which IS The PROOF that MSM is guilty of treason, by attempting 'election interference'.
You’re giving too much credit to people and their ability to think
I felt that Kamala came across as whiny and small minded.
She just doesn't have gravitas.
While true, Harris did better than I expected, she did do one thing that I think helped Trump a lot: she replied way too heavily on the phony emotional appeal. I think even the average voter is over that. At least the way she presented it. It did not seem genuine at all. More like another play on her "unburdened by what has been" drivel.
Harris did pretty much exactly as I expected her to. Trump could have lost this debate but I think he caught her off guard and answered with a strong demeanor for most of the night.
I turned it off after about 30 minutes, I couldn't take all the lying anymore. But unfortunately I think she did better than I expected and was effective at attaching him. Her base would have eaten that up.
Trump was Trump, he stuck to his talking points.
But I don't think this debate will sway any undecided voters either way.
I wasn't expecting a total disaster from Harris. She seemed nervous and preachy, but not completely retarded. I didn't imagine she would show up as a caricature.
What does it mean to "win" this sort of debate, really?
Normally, "to debate" is to dispute accuracy of basic facts, to provide counter-arguments to a proposal, and so forth. But that takes time, and 2 minutes with a 1 minute rebuttal is not a proper forum for that sort of thing. None of that really happened, but then given the time constraints it could not have happened.
Rather, this type of debate is primarily to generate short clips for insertion into "analysis" videos, by both sides. And there was sufficient fodder for that. Both of them got in good "zingers" in that would play well to their own audiences.
It's also a bit of "image management" for a low-information, low-engagement, audience who probably didn't watch the whole thing. For that, I think Harris came off a bit better: she looked more aggressive and had a more of a rhetorical style that looked like she was making points ("We need X, and we need Y, and we need Z.") If you came in randomly and watched 5 minutes of it, Harris probably came off slightly better than Trump, who was pretty much on the defensive for most of it.
That could be one reason why Trump kept coming back to the migrant crisis over and over--you never know which 5 minutes those people are going to be watching, and it is a pretty important problem and key to many other problems. That is is key to many other problems--crime obviously, but also the economy--is another good reason to keep returning to it.
Compared to Biden’s debate with President Trump, Harris made a strong showing, but every dastardly marxist-Democrat dirty trick was played by abc & their oh, so biased moderators. I am glad President Trump was reserved. Fully highlighted how rigged the debate was!
No
Trump did not do well. Moderators did not help but she was better prepared. It pains me to say but it’s the truth.
How did he not do well? I think if we're only comparing Trump's performance without reference to his opponent, this one was much stronger than his last debate with Biden.
I agree with Agman, he didn't do well. He didn't answer questions (this isn't an interview where you can go off script, it annoys people in the center, looks evasive)
He didn't complete sentences and that made him sound like biden
He made fun of biden's obvious medical condition. Yes biden has a medical condition. We all know, it is a foregone conclusion. Why is he still president? Because bad guys are in control and everyone knows it
But that doesnt' give you a pass to shit on him for having alzehimers
The point of him mentioning it was that our country looks weak and that makes it very dangerous for us now. Trump DID make that point.
PUT YOURSELVES in the position of a Center/Undecided/Independent who knows a tiny miniscule fraction of what you guys all know about Trump and the narratives. Essentially assume a blank slate
What Kamala said is then "True" to them, because they don't know she's pushing long-debunked talking points like "the very fine people hoax" or "Project 2025"
They don't know it's a heritage foundation thing unrelated to Trump.
Harris has successfully exploited their ignorance. They might hear Trump say "that's a complete lie and she knows it" but will they believe that?
There is something called "anchor bias" which means the first thing you hear you believe it to be true. It's about "The FIRST" thing. Mommy believes the FIRST sibling that accuses the second of stealing cookies, because they were the first to report it. That doesn't make it true though
We all have anchor bias. The dems exploit this by saying something untrue. They know that even if it's proven to be false, the IMPRESSION, the psychologial emotional neurological IMPACT WILL LINGER
They know this because they're all a bunch of CIA brats trained in neuropsychology at the highest degrees in ivy schools specifically YALE...they know that this works.
We are up against a multi TRILLION DOLLAR neuropsychology think tank that has been refinining its ability to gaslight and neuroprogram thru NLP and other bastardly tricks, the entire population for DECADES
That is why they know these tricks, even if found out later to BE tricks will still have a lingering impact on we the people's psyches and they exploit it.
It's really nasty. The particular exmample I hate is when hillary had signs that said "Love Trumps Hate" and it was a kind of sinister command to polarize people and then frame Trumpers as hateful, in a predictivey-programmyish way so that it implied that Trump was full of hate and therefore ipsofacto Trump supporters must also be a hate group. It was a mass OTHERING RITUAL of the Trump supporter.
Very nasty stuff.
Good points.
She was very aggressive, forcing him to be on the defensive most of the time.
Kamala usually spoke first and got in, like, a dozen whoppers to which Trump had to choose what to respond. Most of them would take a long time to explain and give context to--"fine people", "disrespecting veterans", "project 25"--but he only had 1 minute in which to respond. Trying to debunk all of that in 60 seconds is going to be disjointed.
The MSM doesn't have the level of power they once had. There are many more outlet for information and to correct the record. This board is one such outlet. People today can circumvent the MSM.
Not at all. She openly told HER FOLLOWERS to “go to a MAGA rally, see for yourselves.” The left is dead. Power removed. It has begun!
I agree.
Kamala did better than I expected and that's scary.
Trump did Trump.
But I agree with another poster. This debate did nothing to sway any voter. We're all still going to vote the way we were going to vote before the debate even started.
What did you expect from Kamala?
Cackling. Word salads. Pointless anecdotes. Accents.
We certainly got enough of that lol