ANALYSIS AND POLITICAL THEORY

Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump Who won the debate?

El segundo debate presidencial 2024 entre Donald Trump vs Kamala Harris

Por: Leoncio Díaz (Politólogo)

The analysis of the debate that we are going to present differs greatly from international hegemonic media; As we all know, they are media aligned with a progressive liberal or progressive right political sector. The second presidential debate 2024: This is the second presidential debate for former President Donald Trump this season and the first for Kamala Harris in her lifetime. As we know, Kamala Harris participated to replace Joe Biden. Biden's decision to withdraw from the race was made under pressure from the Democrats due to the president's poor ability to present and defend his ideas in the last debate: the years have taken their toll on him. In this situation, Biden has chosen as his successor to the presidential candidacy his right-hand woman, Vice President Kamala Harris, who knows from the inside the official position of the Democratic government and will represent foreign policy and the continuation of its government plans. The development of the debate Regarding the communication strategy of the participants and the way in which this debate developed, it can be said that the 90 minutes revolved around the Democratic candidate's attacks against the well-known interruptions of Donald Trump, who tried to deny everything about what she was accused of, at the same time returning the attack and imputing some political responsibility for the Biden government, in which she is vice president. That's how it went from start to finish for an hour and 45 minutes. Harris' strategy Kamala Harris maintained a style very characteristic of the Republicans, she looked like a mix of Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. In his body posture, sentimentality and victimization (referring to his skin color), motivation and political correctness; She seemed convinced in what she believes. Kamala prepared her debate strategy with the intention of dismissing everything her opponent said, announcing at the first moment that everything Donald Trump was going to say was going to be pure lies. Something that he repeated on many occasions, after each of Trump's interventions. He constantly challenged the Republican with his eyes, with ironic smiles or with gestures of “surprise” to imply that his opponent was a liar. Trump's strategy Meanwhile, Donald Trump, very experienced, seemed to have improvised his interventions with some mastery, relaxed and confident in his ability to communicate and put the necessary emphasis on his ideas to attack his opponent and differentiate himself with his proposals. However, due to Kamala Harris' constant attacks, he obtained a more defensive than offensive role, responding to the attacks with interruptions to the jury and to Kamala Harris herself in the event of any statement against her. In general terms, Donald Trump's interventions, true to his style, were somewhat exaggerated with the use of superlatives using phrases such as: "I am the best", "I had the best government", "we did it better than in the world". The debate began at 8:00 pm with the participation of Kamala Harris, who began her intervention by evading the moderator's question as to whether she considered that the current economy is better than 4 years ago. Instead, she preferred to start talking about herself and marking class differences with Trump, highlighting her middle-class origin and focusing on social programs in favor of this large sector. At one point in the debate he said about Trump that “he grew up with $400 million,” something that Trump denied, claiming that he only received a small fraction and that he became a multimillionaire based on his work. Main topics of debate: Economy In the economic field, Kamala entered the arena with more strength and confidence to accuse Trump of the attempt to implement the “2025 project,” whose plan, according to the analysts she and her party consulted, is a disaster. That this plan is not going to solve the economy and that Donald Trump wants to lower taxes on the rich [Something he did in his government] producing a deficit in the economy. Donald Trump, for his part, denied that he knows about that program, claiming that he has not even read it. "I have nothing to do with it," he said. Next, Kamala Harris insisted that he plans to create a government for the rich. For his part, Donald Trump accused her of not having a government plan, that she has copied Joe Biden's plan and that she is Joe Biden. Donald Trump's accusations against the Democratic government were based on mass migration and crime, blaming the Biden administration for promoting it. They both accused each other of having no plan.[Which seemed to be true]. Kamala highlighted that as a prosecutor he persecuted criminal organizations. Trump spoke out against immigration, maintaining that the fact that so many immigrants are arriving is proof of the weakness of the Biden Government. FOREIGN POLICY Foreign policy is the most important topic of the debate that many media outlets try to put in the background due to the sensitivity of the issues. However, the support of the international community is framed in regards to global conflicts. In reality, the world is attentive to the proposals of these two candidates due to the new sources of armed conflicts where the US participates indirectly. War in Ukraine This is one of the most controversial topics where the positions are totally opposite; some for and others against. Trump stated, “Biden had no idea how to stop this war, and now there are millions of dead, and things are getting worse, and it could lead to World War III. We're playing with a Third World War, and we have a president who doesn't even know if he's still alive. Where is?" Harris replies. For her part, Kamala responded: “I want to remind you that you are no longer running against Joe Biden, you are running against me.” And he continued: “If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in kyiv right now, and you have to understand what that means, because Putin's agenda is not just about Ukraine. “That is why the leaders of Europe and our NATO allies are so grateful that you are no longer president.” Harris has spoken out in favor of supporting Ukraine in its war. He also stated that he spoke with Zelensky three days before the Russian attack. Unlike Donald Trump, who said he was going to end that war in one day. Israel-Palestine Harris made it clear that she will support Israel in its security and, [secondarily], promote peace for the Palestinians. "The war must end immediately," he said, calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas and proclaiming Israel's right to defend itself. Trump confirmed: "If she is president, Israel will not exist within two years." According to Trump, Harris hates Israel. For her part, the Democrat has accused Trump of being "weak" and "wrong" in foreign policy, of being a friend of dictators because he wants to be a "dictator on day one." NATO Also, it is important to mention that Kamala Harris is strengthening the NATO alliance and its members; unlike Donald Trump, who literally said that “he will make them pay for their safety, otherwise he will not defend them.” The closing of the debate Kamala Harris closed her participation with many promises to the middle class and with a focus on the future, pointing out the differences: "We have different visions of the country. One focused on the future and another focused on the past." Likewise, she ended by saying: “I will be a president who will protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, including a woman's right to make decisions about her own body”. Trump's closing was favorable to him, he had the last word. I improvise a response with an accurate criticism of her actions within the government, reminding her that she is part of this government that is not doing anything it promises: "I'll have to ask you, why didn't you do everything you promised in these three years and a half?" He adds, "He promises a lot of things: that he will do this, that he will do that. All wonderful things. But why hasn't he done all those things? He's been there for three and a half years. They've had three and a half years to fix the border." .They've had three and a half years to create jobs, and all the things we talked about. Why hasn't she gone to the White House, go to the Capitol, get everyone together and do everything. what it promises." His words were against Biden, "the worst president," and Harris, "the worst vice president in history."