Who won the debate? Verdict on Donald Trump, Kamala Harris showdown

The presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has wrapped up, and experts have delivered their verdict.

The presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has wrapped up, and voters and experts have delivered their verdict.

Tens of millions of viewers were expected to tune in to Tuesday night’s ABC News debate in Pennsylvania where the pair squared off in sometimes chaotic scenes over issues including immigration, inflation and abortion.

It was their first time ever meeting in person and comes less than two months before the election on November 5, with the crucial showdown marking the Vice President’s first major opportunity to make her case to voters since taking over from Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee seven weeks ago.

And most observers say Ms Harris was the clear winner, repeatedly baiting the former President into angry, rambling answers.

Former President Donald Trump. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

Mr Trump’s probability of winning the election dropped 3 per cent after the debate, according to online betting market Polymarket, which now has the candidates tied at 49 per cent.

In a poll of CNN viewers after the debate, 63 per cent said Ms Harris won while 37 per cent said Mr Trump won. The same group had been split 50-50 on who they expected to win going in.

A poll by Trafalgar, which tends to lean more Republican, also gave the debate to the Democrat by 55 per cent to 43 per cent.

Tellingly, the Harris campaign immediately called for a second debate.

“That was fun. Let’s do it again,” Harris adviser Brian Fallon said on X.

Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey said while he was not offering an opinion on who won or lost, “the Democrats I know seem really happy tonight, and the Republicans seem more defensive”.

“This is the exact opposite of the last debate, when Democrats were deeply concerned and Republicans were elated and even shocked,” he said.

Politico’s Adam Cancryn and Myah Ward said Ms Harris successfully “got under Trump’s skin, over and over again”.

“She taunted him for his crowd sizes, his past bankruptcies, his inherited wealth and more,” they wrote.

“Mocking Trump’s stature on the global stage, Harris claimed that world leaders laugh at him — a barb aimed squarely at his personal insecurities. The result left Trump on the defensive — and struggling to land hits even as the discussion turned to territory friendlier for him like immigration and the economy.”

Fox News commentator Brit Hume said Ms Harris was “prepared” and “kept her cool”.

“She saw advantages and took them,” he said. “She baited him successfully, which is the story of the debate in my view. So she came out ahead in this, in my opinion, no doubt.”

But fellow host Laura Ingraham took aim at the debate hosts.

“In the end we all know what we knew before, that ABC’s goal tonight was to help Kamala Harris,” she said. “And ABC did help Kamala Harris. Now did Donald Trump miss a few opportunities? Absolutely. Did she miss a few opportunities? Yes she did.”

Supporters of the Republican were critical that several of Mr Trump’s statements were met with fact checks by the moderators, while Ms Harris escaped largely unscathed.

“The moderators were clearly biased,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Newsmax.

“They were constantly fact checking Donald Trump but none of these whoppers that the Vice President was saying.”

Vice President Kamala Harris. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

CNN host Chris Wallace, who previously worked for Fox News and moderated the first debate between Mr Trump and Joe Biden in 2020, said it was a “devastating” night for Mr Trump.

“I didn’t think I was ever going to witness a debate as devastating as the one that you and Dana moderated back in June, where Joe Biden basically tanked his re-election campaign,” Mr Wallace told fellow host Jake Tapper.

“I think tonight was just as devastating. I think Kamala Harris pitched a shutout. On almost every subject I can think of, she shut Trump down.”

Even at the halfway point, many observers were already calling the debate for Ms Harris.

“A senior Harris adviser told me that when they went to commercial break, her team inside the Constitution Center erupted in cheers,” CNN’s Dana Bash reported. “The expectations game is over.”

Republican pollster Frank Luntz wrote halfway through that his phone and X mentions “are being flooded by Trump supporters complaining about the debate”.

“I think they know he’s losing,” he wrote.

He added, “Harris isn’t just winning. Trump is losing.”

Pro-Trump pollster Rich Baris of Big Data Poll also called the debate for Ms Harris early, while dismissing complaints from Republicans about the moderators, ABC News hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis.

The Harris campaign immediately called for a second debate. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

“This is a Harris win,” he wrote on X.

“Not because debates matter, because they usually do not. But … media will be able to squeeze a self-created response bias-driven narrative out for weeks.”

Mr Baris earlier suggested Mr Trump’s campaign managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, “should probably be fired”.

But SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly, who famously clashed with Mr Trump while moderating the 2015 Republican debate, said the moderators were a “disgraceful failure and this is one of the most biased, unfair debates I have ever seen”.

“The pile-on against Trump is so bad and so obvious this will backfire,” she wrote.

The Trump camp, for its part, issued a statement as the debate neared its conclusion claiming victory.

“President Trump delivered a masterful debate performance tonight, prosecuting Kamala Harris’ abysmal record of failure that has hurt Americans for the last four years,” Mr LaCivita and Ms Wiles said.

“We saw President Trump lay out his bold vision of America and how he would continue to build upon the successes of his first term by supercharging the economy, securing the border, and stopping crime from ravaging communities across the country.

“Conversely, Kamala’s vision of America was a dark reminder of the oppressive, big government policies of Joe Biden that she wants to continue. High inflation, a porous border that allows criminals and terrorists to flood across, and being soft on crime — that is what Kamala represents.

“The choice could not be more clear — President Trump was the clear winner tonight, and he will win for America when he returns to the White House.”

The Harris campaign also issued a statement declaring victory.

“Tonight, Vice President Harris commanded the stage on every single issue that matters to the American people,” said Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon.

“Americans saw exactly what kind of President Kamala Harris will be — one who offers a New Way Forward for the country, who will be a president for all Americans, and who will turn the page once and for all on the darkness and division of Donald Trump. And she reminded the American people that she is the only candidate in this race ready to serve as our next Commander-in-Chief.

“Donald Trump was totally incoherent. He was angry and rattled, and it all began when Vice President Harris held him accountable for his record overturning Roe v. Wade and harming women nationwide.

“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box — between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backwards with Trump. That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October.

“Vice President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”

Originally published as Who won the debate? Verdict on Donald Trump, Kamala Harris showdown