GREAT DEBATE?

a start to an ugly fight to come

By Julia Ann Dudley Najieb
Black Headline News

After a brief handshake initiated by Vice President Kamala Harris who was meeting former president, Donal J. Trump, for the first time, the gloves came off, and the boots were on; Trump was metaphorically kicked in the shin several times to his own demise, spewing constant fallacies during the second presidential debate hosted by ABC News, moderators and news anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis. The debate went over the intended 90 minutes, as the words became heated, the facial expressions sour, and the overall debate-tone beyond an argument.

According to a poll taken by CNN and SRSS after the debate, most debate watchers think Harris won against Trump; 63% of debate watchers said Harris won and 37% said Trump. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 5.3% points. Considering that this is Vice President Harris’ first debate live, the 63% represents a good start for Harris, who was noticeably prepared, confident, and more accurate with information versus her opponent. Trump was distracted by the straight-on factual remarks made by Harris to him; he responded with boisterous exaggerations and fallacies. It was apparent that Trump was affected by these un-expected blunt comments made by Harris to him, as she called him out on handing over a swath of problems to her and President Joe Biden when they first took office in 2020. According to Harris, it was Trump who damaged the stability of the Democracy, the economy and health of the national to a dismal low.

“Let’s talk about what Donald Trump left us. Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression,” said Harris. “Donald Trump left us the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess. What we have done and what I intend to do is build on what we know are the aspirations and the hopes of the American people.”

And although the topics of abortion ban and the immigration issue at the American border were predicted to be key issues that would be an essential part of the debate, the topic of the economy was the priority and an ongoing theme throughout the debate; Muir first asked Harris and Trump whether the American economy was better off now versus four years ago. He pointed out that voters and viewers are concerned about the economy and the cost of living. This is where the firestorm began. Vice President Harris (VP Harris) focused on extending a tax cut for those families of $6,000, which is the largest child tax credit that we have given in a long time. She also said she plans is to give a $50,000 tax deduction to start-up small businesses, knowing they are part of the backbone of America’s economy. However the daggers came out as VP Harris explained how opponent, Trump’s tariff initiated would increase a 20% tax on everyday goods.

“Economists have said that Trump’s sales tax would actually result for middle-class families in about $4,000 more a year because of his policies and his ideas about what should be the backs of middle-class people paying for tax cuts for billionaires,” said Harris during the debate.

However, Trump retorted back irritably.

“First of all, I have no sales tax. That’s an incorrect statement. She knows that,” said Trump. “We’re doing tariffs on other countries. Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world. And the tariff will be substantial in some cases. I took in billions and billions of dollars, as you know, from China. In fact, they never took the tariff off because it was so much money, they can’t. It would totally destroy everything that they’ve set out to do.”

And from there the attacks got personal, as VP Harris made a sardonic remark relative to Trump’s alma mater, the University of Penn-sylvania’s Wharton School of Business. The former president and Re- publican nominee graduated from Wharton in 1968. The Washington Post reported that Trump’s brother Fred Trump Jr. and his father Fred Trump Sr. helped Trump get into the prestigious business school. He had started his college education at Fordham University in the Bronx in 1964 but transferred to Wharton two years later. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in May 1968.

VP Harris said that economists at the Wharton School of Business have pointed out that Trump’s plan would not work.

““What I’m offering is an opportunity economy, and the best economists in the country — if not in the world — have reviewed our relative plans for the future of America. What Goldman Sachs has said is that Donald Trump would make the economy worse. Mine would strengthen the economy.”

As the issue of inflation arose, Trumps words became more vicious toward the Biden-Harris Administration. Trump made the claim that the worst inflation in US history happened under Biden.

“She is Biden – (responsible for) the worst inflation we’ve ever had,” said Trump According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. the highest year-to-year inflation rate since the consumer price index was introduced was in 1917, when it hit 17.8%.

While the inflation rate has been consistently higher under Biden’s administration than it was under Trump, it remains far below that number.

The highest monthly rate during Biden’s presidency was 9.1% in June 2022, compared to a peak of 2.9% under Trump in June and July 2022, according to consumer price index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The average annual inflation rate is about 5.7% under Biden, according to an Investopedia analysis that found the average rate under Trump was 1.9%.

As this 2024 presidential election is appearing to be a tight race, time will tell over the next few weeks if this debate will lift VP Harris over the edge of her competitive opponent, or will the attacks become more extreme?