A Donald Trump on the “defensive”, a “fierce joust”. On Tuesday, September 10, the two American presidential candidates debated for the first time on ABC, less than two months before the election. Delivering two opposing visions of America, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump have repeatedly accused each other of lying, addressing in turn the economy, abortion and immigration.
The majority of American media then retain “offensive” or even “aggressive” exchanges, New York Times estimating, for example, that the former prosecutor spent 90 minutes “doing everything possible to annoy her rival, insisting on his criminal convictions, […] the size of his rallies” or his relationships with dictators. Harris, who criticized Trump for attacking her racial identity, “seemed to have a plan for [le] destabilize, and she seemed to succeed,” he comments. CNN, which states that 63% of registered voters thought she performed better than her opponent in the debate, according to an in-house poll.
“Wacky” claims
Politico says nothing else: “Kamala Harris started hitting. And she didn’t stop”, headlined the site, noting that within Fox News, the conservative pro-Trump network, the commentary on their candidate was “far from complimentary.” “I don’t think the American people watching think that either of these candidates won,” said Jess Watters, one of the star anchors, saying the debate was “tough” and “intense at times” but that it made the race for victory “closer.”
“There does not appear to have been a coup de grace that would fundamentally alter the dynamics of what by all accounts will be an extremely close election in November,” the New York Timesalthough the outlet picked up on Trump’s “false and outlandish” claims that “immigrants were stealing and eating their neighbors’ pets in an Ohio town.” “The debate was partly marked by untruths and bizarre digressions, particularly from Trump,” the outlet also noted. Los Angeles Timesreferring to the passage where the former president suggests that Democrats want to allow people to kill babies after they are born as part of abortions. The media The Economistfor his part, was more clear-cut, and spoke of a “triumph” for the vice-president, estimating that “Trump clearly regretted his former adversary, less malicious and agile, Joe Biden.”