Washington [US], September 12: US Vice President Kamala Harris is considered to have performed better than former President Donald Trump in the debate.
Yesterday morning (Vietnam time), Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump had more than 100 minutes of confrontation on television at the presidential debate, an event that added heat to the race for the White House in November. American voters also used the debate to gain more insight into the candidate who will lead the country for the next 4 years.
A boost for Ms. Harris
Observers clearly saw Ms. Harris bring more positive energy when debating Mr. Trump compared to President Joe Biden 's performance in June. The two candidates "warred" fiercely on many important issues in the US, in which abortion rights were considered the area where Ms. Harris performed best, according to The Washington Post . She criticized former President Trump's stance when supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade, thereby allowing US states to impose abortion bans.
"This is an insult to American women. No one should have to give up their faith to consent to government, and Donald Trump certainly should not tell women what to do with their bodies," she said.
In her first head-to-head with her Republican rival, voters also saw a candidate who knew how to put Trump in a difficult position, in addition to strengthening her own positions. She launched attacks on her opponent on immigration issues and the former president's legal troubles, forcing Trump to spend most of his time defending his own record rather than criticizing Harris.
POLITICO quoted political commentators as saying that Ms. Harris was the winner after the debate, and more importantly, this performance helped her receive a boost from the broad support within the Democratic Party, which has been maintained since she officially ran for president. In addition, Ms. Harris's facial expressions when listening to Mr. Trump's speech also created a significant media effect on social networks .
Immediately after the debate, the US Vice President received more good news when singer Taylor Swift, with more than 280 million followers on Instagram, posted an article declaring that she would vote for Ms. Harris and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz this year.
Trump has not "derailed"
Former President Trump said his debate with Ms Harris was his best ever. "It showed how weak the Democrats are and exposed what they are doing to destroy the country, the border, trade, everything," he said after the event.
Mr. Trump complained that he was put in a "3-on-1" situation, accusing the two ABC News moderators of favoring Ms. Harris. During the debate, many of Mr. Trump's statements were deemed false and directly verified by the moderators.
Experts say Mr. Trump remained calm on the first issue of the debate, the economy, an area that is considered his strength compared to Ms. Harris. He said that the US economy has become worse under the administration of President Joe Biden, with Ms. Harris as vice president, because of inflation, and blamed the massive immigration situation for threatening American jobs . This could make voters dissatisfied with the economic situation over the past four years share with him.
However, when it came to issues like abortion or immigration, Vice President Harris gradually gained confidence, while Mr. Trump made vague and policy-unrelated statements, according to Reuters.
Ms Harris mocked Mr Trump's rallies, provoking him by saying that people often left early "out of exhaustion and boredom". The former president responded: "We have the biggest, most incredible rallies in political history". He also mentioned the controversial conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants are capturing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, although the police have denied this information.
Despite many assessments that Mr. Trump is at a disadvantage, the Republican candidate is still a tough opponent for Ms. Harris, in a race that many people believe will be close until voting day.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper