[Baltimore Sun] Debate reaction: Did Trump or Harris win? | READERS RESPOND

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Trump took the bait

I cannot help but wonder if Republicans who are desperately trying to claim that Donald Trump was in any way successful in his recent debate with Vice President Kamala Harris were watching the same debate that I was (“Voters deserve a second Harris-Trump debate,” Sept. 13).

While Harris was calm, focused and fully prepared, former President Trump’s performance showed him to be completely unhinged. He was angry, surly and rambling. He shouted and made weird faces. He ranted and raved and, as usual, displayed his absurd, false sense of self-importance at every opportunity.

The vice president continually attempted to bait him, and he continually took the bait. He seemed incapable of staying on topic and resorted to ridiculous lies. And when those lies were pointed out, he called the fact checkers “biased.”

Fox News has apparently suggested a second debate, but Trump has declined. I’m sure all Republicans are relieved.

— Ann Power, Catonsville

Harris didn’t win

To claim that Kamala Harris won the debate is not supported by the facts. True, Donald Trump was the worst of the two flawed candidates, but Harris did not win that pairing. She only did less poorly than Trump.

The fact of the matter is the true loser in that spectacle was the American voter. We are no closer to understanding Harris’ policies than before the debate. Trump was evasive at times as well, but not nearly as much as Harris.

Other losers in the debate were the ABC moderators. They were clearly biased in favor of Harris. The moderators fact-checked Trump on several occasions, which is fine and part of their responsibility. Yet they never fact-checked Harris. And worse yet, they never challenged her when she was non-responsive to their questions. An example being the very first question of the night about whether the American people are better off or worse off over the last four years. Additionally, Harris employed facial expressions, eye-rolling and other theatrics far more than Trump, but she was never cautioned to muffle the theatrics by the moderators.

I am still waiting for a direct question and a straight answer on the topic of Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline, whether Harris observed this decline during her position as vice president and whether she ever held any discussions about initiating the solution described in the 25th Amendment.

The real winners in this debate are the back-room power brokers, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and big money donors who orchestrated the shift to Harris. The losers are the American voters, who deserve far more transparency about the shift and what policies Harris will initiate if she wins the presidency.

— Eric Rockel, Lutherville

Trump got his way

By any objective standard, Kamala Harris won the debate. But, in reality, Donald Trump won. He got exactly what he wanted — 45 minutes of free airtime to give his stump speech to more than 67 million viewers instead of the thousands at his rallies. He told Americans their economy is a mess, and the blame goes to Joe Biden and Harris; He said immigrants are an existential threat (even if they’re not eating your pets), that he’s tougher on criminals and in foreign relations — all subjects on which he leads Harris in the polls. He even got to play his favorite Trump card, the victim card, claiming ABC moderators were out to get him. If it’s media, especially television, Trump is going to win.

— Jim Dempsey, Edgewood

We need better options

Now that the debate is over, as an independent voter I have not seen a truly competent individual to vote for president of this country. Donald Trump seems truly out of it, worrying about people eating pets. Kamala Harris has only wonderful platitudes to offer about what she will do if elected (“Who won the debate? 5 key takeaways from Harris vs. Trump,” Sept. 11). That seems to be the trend in this country, and it’s a real shame we can’t come up with a truly decent, strong person to be president.

While Harris won the debate, she is still very weak in her ability to govern this country. Actually, she has no true experience and wasn’t outstanding in her role as vice president. What exactly did she do as vice president to show leadership? Nothing as far as I can remember. Remember she only became a presidential candidate because of President Joe Biden’s downfall. But in November, Harris or Trump will be elected the next president. Kinda scary, isn’t it?

— Stas Chrzanowski, Baltimore