Vice President Kamala Harris was dominant during Tuesday’s presidential debate in Philadelphia. Former President Donald Trump struggled to stay on topic and a times sounded incoherent. With the race to the White House neck and neck will this debate make a difference? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Going into Tuesday night’s debate, much of the focus was on Harris. It would be her first-ever general election presidential debate, with an opponent who had been on the stage many times. Questions swirled about whether she would be able to parry attacks from Trump, respond to criticism that she’s light on policy and, perhaps most importantly, whether she could appear “presidential.”
According to NPR’s senior political editor Domenico Montanaro, the answer to all those questions was yes. Despite a nervous start, he writes, “Harris was calm, in command and in control and looked to the future, distinguishing herself from both Biden and Trump. A few notable points about her performance:
Harris was far more dominant than Trump during the debate, calling him “weak and wrong.
