On September 10th, America likely witnessed the only 2024 presidential debate between Democratic Nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Nominee Former President Donald Trump. Harris had high expectations for the night, as her experience as a prosecutor had many political pundits believing she had a unique opportunity to treat Trump as a criminal in a courtroom. The expectations did not change for Trump, as he had already defeated the established political figures of President Joe Biden earlier this year and ruined the career of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton back in 2016.

Coming away from the debate, not much has changed with the former President. Trump hit on many of the same attacks and policies and was himself throughout the contest. He attacked Harris on her voting record in the United States Senate, saying that her ideas were nonstarters since she had decided not to accomplish any of her policy goals while in office. At the same time, she was Vice President and painted her ideas as those adhering to Marxism as opposed to ordinary Democratic policy. Voters trust Trump more on the economy, and Trump ensured those who watched the debate did not forget that. It worked in post-debate polling and made his case to the American public while remaining himself.

Harris, however, struggled to sell herself as likable or genuine, which is an issue she has struggled with throughout her campaign since being anointed as the Democratic Presidential Nominee back in July. While Harris may have gotten an opportunity to not come off as the incompetent buffoon her boss was back in June, she did not sell herself well to the American public as someone that they could trust or that would inspire anyone. She needed a moment, and Trump did not let her steal the spotlight from him throughout the night.

Harris returned from the night with one of the worst body language performances in a presidential debate since Al Gore and his sighs during his debate with George W. Bush in 2001. Compared to Gore’s sighing, which became an issue for him post-debate, Harris continued to laugh nervously, put her hand on her chin while Trump was speaking, and came off as arrogant to most viewers who may have been getting introduced to her for the first time. To ‘win’ this debate, she needed to have critical moments and soundbites that mainstream media airwaves could play until the election in November, and she could not accomplish that.
The debate was not only about the candidates' performance but also about the influence of the media. ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis were perceived as biased against Trump. Their consistent challenges to Trump's claims and arguments on issues such as abortion, government weaponization, and January 6th added another layer of complexity to the debate.

ABC needed to come off as unbiased toward Trump after CNN moderated the debate between Trump and Biden exceptionally well in June but failed to be even near as successful. While CNN was praised, ABC was mocked throughout analysis panels on multiple mainstream news networks and social media for how they handled the debate moderation.  

While Trump performed above or at expectation, Harris did not have a significant moment that stood out. With the Trump campaign having momentum coming into the night in swing state polling and betting odds in markets, Harris needed to have some moments that would sell her to the American public, or at least sell her as a confident leader who would be nothing like her boss, President Joe Biden. Instead, she came off as a more communicative version of Biden, who has negatively affected the issues the American electorate cares about the most, such as the economy, immigration, and governmental overreach.
 
President Trump sold himself as the man he has been since his political inception in 2015. He was confident, bold, and communicative about the populist issues that mean the most to the American people. At the same time, the Harris campaign came away with virtually nothing of substance they could use.

Trump can use this debate to his advantage on the campaign trail and talk about how the legacy media despises him and works with the establishment to take him out. That's something voters want to hear far more than any canned, arrogant soundbite.