There’s a long-standing theory in politics that whoever controls the first 15 minutes of a debate will go on to control the entire evening. That was certainly the case back on June 28, when former President Donald Trump dominated the first presidential debate so completely that President Joe Biden faced immediate calls to drop out of the race.
What a difference a few months can make. In his first outing against new Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Trump spent almost the entire evening on the defensive against both Harris and moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. Faced with a real-time fact-checking of some of his outlandish statements, Trump inadvertently conceded what millions of Americans have known for years: His policy positions are mostly based on whatever he’s seen on far-right television networks.
After less than an hour it was clear that Trump had discarded any attempt to challenge Harris on policy, reverting instead to a nonstop stream of name-calling, self-pity and directionless fury. Even by Trumpian standards, the former president’s performance stood out as shockingly incoherent. It was certainly not the night an already nervous Trump campaign was hoping for.
Trump inadvertently conceded what millions of Americans have known for years: His policy positions are mostly based on whatever he’s seen on far-right television networks.
What Americans saw on Tuesday was a Trump who appeared convinced that his second presidential debate would go much like his first — with Trump controlling the floor while his Democratic opponent struggled to mount any defense. Instead, Trump went toe-to-toe with a career prosecutor who clearly understood how to derail her opponent while repeatedly urging Americans to “turn the page” on his political circus.
Trump’s breakdown started early in the evening, when he repeated the debunked claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had been stealing and eating local pets. That conspiracy theory caught fire online this week after right-wing social media accounts ran with the unsourced story — even though there is no actual evidence that it happened.
Muir was quick to correct Trump by noting that Springfield officials, including the city manager, have reported no such incidents of cat-eating in their town. A further ABC News investigation also failed to turn up any examples of missing or injured pets. That inconvenient correction led Trump’s strangest meltdown yet.
“Well, I’ve seen people on television!” Trump shouted in a failed effort to interrupt Muir’s fact-check. “The people on television saying, ‘My dog has been taken and used for food!’ But maybe [the city manager] said that, and maybe that’s a good thing for a city manager to say.”
What?
Despite multiple efforts to name-call Harris into a direct conflict, Trump never managed to regain his momentum after his cat-eating meltdown. At one point Trump seemed to even confuse himself, first accusing Harris of stealing his economic plan and then calling her a “Marxist” for advocating those economic policies. His economic confusion seemed even stranger given the former president’s refusal to outline his second-term economic policy despite multiple direct questions from the moderators.
Despite multiple efforts to name-call Harris into a direct conflict, Trump never managed to regain his momentum after his cat-eating meltdown. At one point, Davis asked Trump if, after years of empty promises, he had finally produced an actual policy to reform health care. “I have the concepts of a plan,” Trump admitted. When asked for even bare-bones details about his alleged plan, Trump argued that he shouldn’t have to come up with any ideas because he’s “not the president right now.” In a change of pace that will most likely have Democrats breathing a sigh of relief, Tuesday’s debate proved to be Harris’ to control. In a series of back-and-forths, Harris succeeded in cornering Trump on Republicans’ proposed national abortion ban, with the former president twice refusing to say whether he would veto the bill. When asked why vice presidential nominee JD Vance recently reassured voters that Trump would veto any effort to federally ban abortion, Trump claimed to have no idea what Vance was talking about. It was hardly a picture of party unity. Harris’ needling about Trump’s inaction on Jan. 6 also yielded an explosive and contradictory response, with Trump claiming he had “nothing to do with” the attack on the Capitol and, for good measure, once again defending his controversial 2017 remark that white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, included some “very fine people.” Despite repeated claims by Trump’s handlers that the former president would exercise discipline in his matchup with Harris, what viewers saw was an angry and scattered former president repeatedly scolded for pushing falsehoods. Worse for Trump’s fragile ego, his flurry of attacks against Harris seemed to fall flat. Not only did Harris appear unrattled; Trump’s attacks seemed to tee up her most effective comebacks. If Trump wanted to telegraph to Americans that his campaign is thriving, Tuesday’s debate wasn’t the way to do it. The former president looked frazzled, frustrated and ready to be done with a grueling 90 minutes. Don’t expect a rematch after that sorry display.
Max Burns is a Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies. Find him on X, @themaxburns. 
