Let’s be honest, even before this eternal election cycle, most of us have been done with Donald Trump for years. We’ve avoided his voice, tried to forget the firehose of falsehoods he pumps out, and have generally wanted him purged from the national psyche as soon as possible. And in every split screen in the debate with Trump — showing her bemusement, confusion, distress, and disbelief — Kamala Harris showed us that we’re all on the same page.
Forced by tradition, circumstance, and a thoroughly broken system of accountability to debate an insufferable hatemongering clown in pancake makeup, Harris made the case that we can — and should — never do this again. Rather than try to reason with or refute his incoherent babble, she laid out irresistible bait that had Trump wandering off on rhetorical cul-de-sacs, spouting nonsensical conspiracy theories, vomiting easily falsifiable lies, and occasionally producing relevant answers with the bluntest and least palatable version of wildly unpopular positions. His debate performance generated such inimitable gems of insight like: “The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food”; “I have concepts of a plan”; and “she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” Clearly, these are the ideas that the people are clamoring to hear.
Meanwhile, for anyone who tuned into the debate looking for substance, Harris provided straightforward, transparent promises that, under her stewardship, the government will support the construction of millions of new housing units, build on the successful results of healthcare and energy transition policies, and expand the Child Tax Credit that halved child poverty two years ago.
It was an open and exciting vision of a future that encompasses all Americans — multigenerational and brand new — in prosperity and possibilities, delivered by a smiling and cheerful Harris. In fact, almost every time she took the opportunity to discuss future plans directly to the viewers at home, it seemed that she too was pretty optimistic about what we could do as a nation once we left Trump behind.
Her arguments were made easier by Trump’s desperate attempts to keep himself center stage. Frequently throughout the night, his bouts of verbal diarrhea forced both Harris and the moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, into cleanup duty, trying to mop up at least one of the more egregious lies he had spewed. It worked to her favor, heightening the contrast between the mess he has always been and the sharp, clear understanding she represents.
He mentioned the economy; she reminded us of what the Biden-Harris Administration inherited. He talked about the supposed lawlessness of refugees and immigrants; she reminded everyone that he’s still under indictment. He refused to acknowledge any regrets about January 6, 2021 and insisted that he won the 2020 election, and she pointed out that being fired by 81 million people is a lot to process.
It was an argument she made throughout the night to an audience increasingly accepting of the terms: Get rid of Trump at the ballot box once and for all, and we can start talking about where we go next. Against her, he had no answers, no plans, no vision. Mired in grievances over his failed campaigns, his election losses, and whatever bizarre conspiracy theory he recently watched on Fox News, Trump offered nothing except an old man ranting at a world moving on without him. That’s how, even though he had asked for the last word at the debate, Trump ended up with nothing to say.
Harris had already closed her case.
