November 12, 2024
Providence College's Student-Run Newspaper Since 1935
by Clara Johnson ’26 on September 19, 2024
On Sept. 10, 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced each other at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for the first time on this campaign trail. Trump had previously debated Biden on June 27—a showdown that proved disastrous for the Biden campaign by confirming many left-leaning voters’ lack of confidence in his ability to serve as a competent president. In the wake of his performance and mounting public and political pressure, Biden dropped out of the election, endorsing Harris who eventually secured the Democratic nomination. Consequently, last week’s showdown was highly anticipated, as many were eager to see Harris in action.
Throughout the night, the candidates discussed issues and policies that reflect central voter concerns, including abortion, immigration, and Project 2025, as well as the war in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, climate change, and the economy. According to polling from the Langer Research Associates produced for ABC News, 58 percent of Americans pick Harris as the winner of the debate with her intertwining emotional and logical appeals to present coherent arguments addressed directly to the American public, baiting Trump into conspiracy. This led to many of the viral moments from the night, including Trump’s claim that “they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats” in reference to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH, his claim that Democrats were seeking post-birth abortions, and his declaration that he had “concepts of a plan” that would be “better” when asked how he intended to replace the Affordable Care Act. Trump, for his part, focused on criticizing Harris’ approach to the border, international conflict, and the economy.
In the context of our extremely polarized political climate, moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis employed live fact-checking to prevent the spread of misinformation and conspiracy. Many of Trump’s claims, including the above about post-birth abortions and Springfield, OH, were corrected, but the moderators never fact-checked Harris. Many voters feel that this unbalanced fact-checking as well as the topics chosen by the moderators reflected bias in favor of Harris which contributed to her stronger performance.
Despite the majority of viewers picking Harris as stronger in this debate, there has been no meaningful shift in voter preferences. The Langer Research Associates did find that 37 percent of Americans view Harris “more favorably” following the debate, while only 17 percent view Trump “more favorably.” However, this might be a reflection of Harris’ less extensive public exposure leading up to the debate, as much of this support was within her own base. Even Taylor Swift’s public endorsement of Harris did little to impact people’s opinions, although more than 300,000 people visited the link to register to vote on vote.org following her show of support.
Very little changed for the American public following the debate, likely because of how entrenched so many people’s views are, but as young people, we have the potential to have the biggest impact on this election. It is critical that we register to vote and start opening the door for open and less contentious conversations about politics.