Welcome to the post-debate edition of From the Policy Desk, a newsletter covering tonight’s showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
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Harris ‘pisses off’ Trump in debate as both candidates seek mantle of change
By Jonathan Allen and Peter Nicholas
PHILADELPHIA – Former President Donald Trump learned Tuesday night that he now has a stronger opponent on his hands.
When President Joe Biden stepped aside in June after a disastrous debate performance, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, launched aggressive attacks and a series of denials. And in one particularly tense moment, he berated Trump, who fumed at his attempt to interrupt him — with some allies saying after the debate that he lost control at a crucial moment.
“Wait a minute,” he said, his irritation evident in his tone and expression. “I’m talking now. do you mind? … Does this sound familiar?
On Fox News, Laura Ingraham said Harris “changed the scores a bit in the betting markets.” Three Republican sources — a political operative, a Trump ally and a donor — described Trump as “furious” during the debate because Harris pushed his buttons and touched him after questions about some of his key policy areas.
Another Trump fundraiser said Trump’s frustration hurt his ability to carry out his plans and points he wanted to make — but said he hoped voters would feel the same anger.
“Trump is so angry he can’t get his message across,” a Trump fundraiser said. “He’s cool, calm, and can provoke her. When I heard that, I was stressed.” But, the contributor noted, American voters are “stressed and angry. “Maybe they are very familiar with Trump’s anger.”
Trump whitewashed his supporters in bad debates on the nights he narrowly won the 2016 election and narrowly lost the 2020 election. But Trump, buoyed by more favorable public opinion polls than he’s seen in the last week, missed an opportunity to wrap up his personal good vibes.
After Tuesday’s match, he approached reporters to criticize the ABC News moderators and call the night a victory. He declined to answer questions about the second debate, which Harris’ campaign challenged in an earlier-night statement.
“The polls are very good, I felt very good about it,” he said.
Read more from John and Peter →
Key takeaways from the Harris-Trump debate
By Sahil Kapoor
Harris is quick to count on cost cutting: Harris used the first question to lean on his “opportunity economy” plan, calling Trump a corporate tax cut and trying to undercut Trump’s lead with swing voters by casting himself as the candidate of the middle class.
Harris advocates for policy changes: A significant weakness for Harris in the campaign were the left-wing positions he held as the 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner, which he has since abandoned or scaled back — such as banning fracking, mandating the buyback of semi-automatic firearms and decriminalizing border crossings. to do
“I made it very clear in 2020, I’m not going to ban fracking,” Harris said. “I did not ban fracking as vice president. In fact, I tied for the vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking, an environmentally controversial method of extracting oil and natural gas.
Harris added: “My values haven’t changed.”
Trump avoids vetoing federal abortion ban: Trump and Harris engaged in a long-running clash over abortion, during which Trump twice refused to say he would veto a federal abortion ban if Congress passed it.
“Well, I won’t have to,” Trump replied. He said he would not “sign” such a ban because there was “no reason” and because “everyone” should have Roe v. Wade claimed he was happy with the termination.
Trump returns to Biden attacks: Trump’s performance included extensive attacks on Biden, who left after his disastrous debate against Trump in late June. He criticized Biden’s handling of classified documents, slammed him for opposing the Keystone XL pipeline and called the Biden administration “the most divisive presidency in the history of our country.”
A night of more discussion
That’s all for the Policy Desk for now. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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