Local experts react to presidential debate between Harris, Trump
Vice President Kamala Harris faced off against former President Donald Trump in their presidential debate against each other Tuesday.
The debate provoked a ton of reactions, including from local experts who spoke to WTOP.
Harris’ ‘forceful presence on the stage’
The first debate between the two could be their only one before the election. One of the main takeaways was that Harris predictably got under Trump’s skin a number of times.
Politico reporter Daniel Lippman, who covered the White House and Washington for Politico, said that “she was seen as the more forceful presence on the stage.”
“She would try to bait him into responding to her attacks and he basically fell into it every single time, so he wasn’t able to keep the focus on policy and issues affecting the American people instead responding to her attacks on him,” Lippman said.
‘Both candidates called each other liars’
They traded jabs over issues including immigration, the war in Gaza and abortion rights. Meanwhile, Trump denied that he would sign a national abortion ban.
Politico national politics correspondent Adam Wren spoke to WTOP’s Dimitri Sotis and said Harris clearly left the former president flustered and angry.
‘She planted a bomb’
One thing was clear during the debate: Trump went on the defensive after Harris spoke about the size of the crowds at his rallies. WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller said the topic got him “distracted” and “veering off” topic, affecting his performance.
Harris ‘passed the TV test’
National Journal editor-in-chief Jeff Dufour told WTOP that Harris showed some undecided voters that she had enough poise to earn their support. However, he questioned “how much of this going to matter?”