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Trump says “no” to third presidential debate
There will be no rematch. Donald Trump on Thursday said he would not debate Kamala Harris again after tangling with her for nearly two hours earlier this week.
As he told it in a post on Truth Social, he won the debate, and “Comrade Kamala Harris,” who immediately after the debate called for another encounter, was merely acting like a “prizefighter [who] loses a fight.”
The polls so far say something different. According to several studies cited by the analysis website FiveThirtyEight, nearly 60% of people who watched the faceoff thought Harris came out on top.
It’s unclear how much that will help Harris in either national or battleground races — the post-debate endorsement of Taylor Swift, which caused a tsunami of voter registrations, may prove to have a more lasting impact.
But whatever the effects of the debate were for either candidate, Trump has made it clear: There will not be a round 3.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris take part in a presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Penn., on Sept. 10, 2024, in a combination of photographs.
Trump takes Harris’ bait in heated presidential debate
Vice President Kamala Harris had two opponents in Tuesday night’s highly anticipated presidential debate: former President Donald Trump and high expectations. She performed well against both.
Harris successfully put Trump on the defensive throughout much of the debate, ripping into him on issues ranging from abortion and his criminal record to Jan. 6 and his refusal to accept the 2020 election results.
“Trump was fired by 81 million people," Harris said in reference to 2020. “Clearly, he is having a very difficult time processing that.”
Meanwhile, Trump used the debate to play his greatest hits, offering doom and gloom messaging about immigration, crime, and the “radical left.” The former president, for example, said that Harris wanted to see “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” Trump also veered into the bizarre and conspiratorial, pushing baseless assertions about immigrants eating pets.
Harris seemed to anticipate this approach and laid into Trump for recycling talking points he’s leaned on for years. “It is important that we move forward – that we turn the page on this same old tired rhetoric,” Harris said.
She explained how military leaders had described Trump to her as a “disgrace.” And when Trump attacked President Joe Biden, Harris fired back, saying, “You're not running against Joe Biden. You are running against me.”
Throughout the debate, Trump struggled to stay on topic and rarely answered questions directly. When asked about the war in Gaza, he focused instead on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – saying it never would’ve happened under his watch (Please note: There was also an ongoing war in eastern Ukraine involving Kremlin-backed rebels throughout his presidency).
Harris also got Trump to veer away from talking about immigration, an issue that’s been the former president’s bread and butter since his 2016 campaign, by suggesting that people leave his rallies early out of boredom. Trump took the bait, going on to boast that he has the “biggest” and “most incredible” rallies in response to a question about his role in killing a bipartisan bill to strengthen border security.
Trump repeatedly came off as unprepared. When asked about health care, he openly admitted he didn’t have a plan, other than wanting to replace Obamacare. “We are looking at different plans,” Trump said. “I have concepts of a plan.”
Though some of Harris’s responses came across as scripted, she largely stuck to one key message throughout the night — portraying herself as a new generation of leadership who would turn the page on a historically divisive era in US politics. That said, the debate often lacked specifics on policy — as both candidates traded barbs and sought to portray the other as a danger to the US. “You believe in things that the American people don't believe in,” Trump said to Harris in his closing remarks, decrying her as “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”
After the debate, Trump allies appeared unimpressed by what they saw from him — with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham describing the night as a "missed opportunity" for the former president.
Whether Harris won over any new voters remains to be seen, but her campaign is clearly feeling energized by the vice president’s performance and has already signaled a desire to participate in a second debate with Trump. In comments to reporters in the spin room on the prospect of another debate, Trump said, “We’ll look at it, but they want a second debate because they lost.”
Ian Bremmersays that Harris won the debate. And Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris after the debate, seemingly concurs with this assessment. Do you agree? We’d love to hear from you here.
Also, please join our X Space today on the debate. We’ll start at 11 a.m. EST. Set a reminder or join here.
Debate Bingo: Kamala Harris v. Donald Trump
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off in their first presidential debate of the 2024 US election campaign on Tuesday, September 10th. That means it is time for another round of: DEBATE BINGO!
Tuesday's 90-minute debate will air on ABC News at 9 PM ET and will be moderated by ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis. It will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. This marks not only the first time that Harris and Trump will debate, but also the first time they will meet each other in person.
Some tips on DEBATE BINGO: you can make it a competition with your fellow politics nerd pals by printing out GZERO Media's debate bingo cards. Or just screenshot them and share with your friends to compare online. There are four different cards so that each player can have a unique board. Every time one of the candidates says one of these words or terms, X it on your card. The first player to get five across wins. And if you really want to jazz it up, you can mark each of your words by taking a swig of your favorite beverage, doing five burpees, or donating to your favorite charity or political candidate.
Enjoy! Follow our coverage of the debate with us on social media too - we'll be on X @gzeromedia.
Harris Trump Debate Bingo Card 1
Harris Trump Debate Bingo Card 2
Harris Trump Debate Bingo Card 3
Harris Trump Debate Bingo Card 4
Remember, there's more going on in the world than just the US election, so subscribe to GZERO Daily, our newsletter on global politics, and watch our weekly show GZERO World with Ian Bremmer right here and on public television.
Will Kamala Harris’ momentum last in the race against Trump?
Jon Lieber, Eurasia Group's head of research and managing director for the firm's coverage of United States political and policy developments, shares his perspective on US politics from Washington, DC.
What we're watching in US Politics: Kamala Harris is off to a blazing start since replacing Joe Biden as the Democrats' pick for the presidential race, raking in almost $250 million in just one week. The big question: Can she maintain this momentum in the race against Donald Trump?
Joe Biden drops out of the race last Sunday, unexpectedly, as the oldest candidate ever, instantly making Donald Trump the new oldest nominee in American presidential history. Now he's going to have to run against a Democrat who's 19 years younger than he is, and the sitting Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. She's off to a scorching hot start raising almost $250 million, a quarter of a billion dollars in a single week since Biden announced he was dropping out, and she's picking up a lot of buzz and excitement online.
But the real question is, is her current momentum about Harris? Or, is it just about someone other than Biden? That's really what the rest of this campaign is going to be about. Harris comes in with some strengths that Biden didn't have, namely the fact that three-quarters of the population doesn't think she's too old to be president, but she probably also has some weaknesses where Biden had unique strengths, such as his strength with working-class white voters in the Midwest. On that front, Harris is just kind of an unknown.
We can't really trust what the polls are telling us just yet, because what you'd expect to see after a big event would be a surge in support from Democrats, who are more eager to respond to polls at the moment, so it might be a few weeks before we actually have an understanding of where this race stands in public opinion polling. Then there's the question of Harris herself who hasn't really done much to distinguish herself as vice president and ran a pretty poor presidential primary campaign in 2020 that led to her dropping out and becoming the vice-presidential pick. So is this election going to be about Harris, the person, versus Donald Trump, who Americans know and either love or hate very well? Or is it going to be about Kamala Harris, the meme, running against Donald Trump?
Right now, she's polling as a generic Democrat would, doing two to four points better than Biden would nationally. We don't really have a lot of granularities on what's happening at the swing states, but it looks like this is starting to be a competitive race, and we have to see how Harris holds up once the American people get a better look at her. This is going to happen through her campaign appearances, which will be tight and scripted, but probably the most important event coming up on the election calendar is going to be the debate, where Harris won't have a chance to answer scripted questions or read off a teleprompter and is going to have to face Donald Trump live.
As for Trump, suddenly, this race that was breaking strongly in his favor is now sort of starting to turn against him because of the fact that Kamala Harris now can position herself as the change candidate, and talking about a break from the past, as Trump as the old former president that Americans maybe want to move on from. So very fluid dynamic in the race. Trump is probably still favored, just because he has more paths to victory through the Electoral College, but this could all change drastically over the coming weeks. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for what we're watching in US politics next week.
- Harris and Trump plot new campaign strategies ›
- Harris makes her campaign debut ›
- What Kamala Harris means for AI ›
- Hard Numbers: The Kamala Harris Edition ›
- With Biden out, can Kamala Harris defeat Trump? ›
- Harris, Trump and the hypocrisy in US politics - GZERO Media ›
- DNC Night 2: Obama set to rally support for Harris - GZERO Media ›
- Harris lays out her vision for America: ‘Write the next great chapter’ - GZERO Media ›
Debate Bingo: Welcome to the 2024 Biden-Trump showdown
Here we are with the first of two presidential debates of the 2024 US election campaign. Thursday night’s debate will mark the first time a sitting US President debates a former one, and it will be the first debate for both in this campaign season.
Trump comes into this debate as a convicted felon in his hush money trial, with more cases on deck. Biden will have the chance to score points, face-to-face, but we can't promise that any slobbing or slurring won't lead to some "poor old Joe" jibes. Trump won't shy away from hitting below the belt, and that’s another reason why the policy of muting candidates' mics remains in place. This will make for an exciting duel... or brawl?
And to make the most of the experience, we've brought it back: DEBATE BINGO! Yes, you can make it a competition with your fellow politics nerd pals by printing out GZERO Media's debate bingo cards. Or just screenshot them and share with your friends to compare online. There are four different cards so that each player can have a unique board. Every time one of the candidates says one of these words or terms, X it on your card. The first player to get five across wins. And if you really want to jazz it up, you can mark each of your words by taking a swig of your favorite beverage, doing five burpees, or donating to your favorite charity or political candidate. Whatever your game is, you can play it with our bingo cards while you watch the debate on CNN at 9 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 27.
Enjoy! Follow our coverage of the debate with us on social media too - we'll be on X @gzeromedia.
Remember, there's more going on in the world than just the US election, so subscribe to GZERO Daily, our newsletter on global politics, and watch our weekly show GZERO World with Ian Bremmer right here and on public television.
Trump skips debate
Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC, shares his perspective on US politics.
Is it really a Republican debate without President Trump?
Eight candidates are going to show up in Milwaukee this week in order to debate on stage for the right to be the Republican nominee for President, and all of them are going to be living in the shadow of the one candidate who won't show up: Donald J. Trump, former President of the United States, who's been indicted four times for various criminal charges across multiple jurisdictions in Georgia, New York, Washington, and Florida.
Trump is dominating the Republican field right now, and even though he's not showing up for the debate, he's going to be the main topic, because every single one of these candidates who is going to be there, who met the RNC's strict qualifications to show up on stage, is going to be trying to distinguish themselves and take down his massive polling leads. So this contest this week isn't going to be about these candidates trying to get out ahead of one another. They're trying to break through so they can knock away at Trump's polling lead.
We're still months out from the first vote being cast in this election, and Trump right now looks unstoppable. Ron DeSantis is the only credible candidate who's in double digits on the polling, but his campaign has largely flailed out over the last several months, with his approval ratings dropping and his meager polling advantage over the rest of the field starting to droop. So, this is Trump's race to lose. He's not likely to show up for any of the debates because he's so far in front of the field. This is a great front-runner strategy of just ignoring everybody else and not even acknowledging that it's a real contest, and right now it looks like it isn't one.
So, the debate may be pretty entertaining, but it's going to be a lot less entertaining without Trump there. The debates in 2016 is where he really distinguished himself from the field and established himself as the greatest show on Earth in American politics. He'll try to dominate media through his post on Truth Social, and of course, the rest of the campaign is going to be him dominating because of his criminal trials.
So, tune in for the debate. Should be entertaining, could be a lot better, and we'll see if he shows up for the second one.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Windham, NH.
Hard Numbers: Trump’s bond, Saudis target Ethiopian migrants, missing in Maui, Ecuadorians’ pro-Amazon vote
200,000: Former President Donald Trump's bond in Georgia has been set at $200,000 ahead of a Friday deadline to turn himself in. As part of his release conditions, Trump, who is reportedly set to surrender for processing on Thursday, is banned from using social media to intimidate witnesses.
750,000: Saudi border guards have reportedly opened fire and launched explosives at Ethiopian migrants fleeing their country’s civil war in recent years, killing hundreds as they tried crossing into Saudi Arabia from Yemen, according to a new Human Rights Watch report. Some 750,000 Ethiopians now live in Saudi Arabia, the majority of them unauthorized.
850: That’s the number of missing people in Maui, Hawaii, following last week’s devastating wildfires. While 850 is far lower than the earlier estimates, which were closer to 2,000, officials are asking locals to give DNA samples to help with the sluggish victim recovery effort.
59: Ecuadorian voters failed to deliver a decisive win to any of the country’s presidential candidates on Sunday, paving the way for a runoff vote in October. But there was a clear win for the Amazon with 59% voting in favor of a referendum to reject all oil exploration in Yasuni National Park.
Former President and Republican candidate Donald Trump greets the crowd during a campaign rally in Windham, New Hampshire, on Aug. 8, 2023.
On stage or not, Trump will dominate the debate
When Republican presidential candidates take to the stage in Milwaukee on Aug. 23 for the first debate of the 2024 campaign, one issue will loom above all others – and you know exactly what his name is.
Whether Donald Trump appears on stage or chooses instead to offer live commentary via social media, the central question facing participants will be whether the frontrunning, hyper-charismatic, twice-impeached, thrice-indicted former president is the right candidate to carry the Republican standard into political combat next year against President Joe Biden.
How could it be otherwise? Poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.com estimates that Trump leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his nearest Republican challenger, by nearly 40 percentage points (53.7% to 14.3%) in current polling. No other candidate reaches 8%.
The 78 felony counts Trump now faces in three separate indictments – a fourth indictment, this one in Georgia, may land soon – have failed to dent his popularity with Republican voters. And they’ve kept Trump in the headlines, depriving rivals of chances to earn the attention they need to grow their campaigns.
That’s why the other candidates on the debate stage must think carefully about what to say about Trump. In hopes of staying on the good side of millions of voters devoted to Trump, or even of becoming Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, some will dodge questions that invite criticism of the former president and train their fire on Biden, other Democrats, and the media.
But anyone who hopes to beat Trump must find chances to persuade voters that Trump can’t beat Biden. And they won’t have many high-profile opportunities to draw voter attention with Trump’s various trials dominating political news for the foreseeable future.
Who can be on the stage? To qualify for the debate, each candidate needs to be polling at at least 1% in three quality national polls or in a mix of national and state polls, and they must have at least 40,000 donors. So far, eight candidates have met the requirements including Trump, DeSantis, Tim Scott, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Doug Burgum, and former VP Mike Pence.
The other great unanswered debate question: Will Trump show?
The arguments against him appearing are obvious. Trump is winning. Big. There’s no upside to appearing alongside minor-league rivals who desperately need to break through with the huge audience that only a Trump-dominated event can deliver.
But will Trump agree to sit at home when he could be center stage? He might not want to allow accusations from other candidates to go unanswered. Particularly since he knows that many Republican voters, who get most of their news from media outlets that avoid critical coverage of Trump, might be hearing strident criticism of him directly from fellow Republicans for the first time.
That includes criticism from rival candidates like Pence, Haley, and Christie, who have worked for or supported Trump in the past.
The bottom line: The polls say Trump is the prohibitive favorite for the Republican nomination. The Aug. 23 debate will give his Republican rivals an important early opportunity to rewrite this story. Donald Trump’s decision on whether and how to respond will set the tone for the rest of the primary campaign.