To many Democrats, Kamala Harris embodied the qualities Joe Biden lacked when facing Donald Trump on the debate stage—she was assertive, quick-witted, and relentless in challenging her opponent.
In contrast to Biden’s shaky debate performance in June, Democrats who gathered in bars, watch parties, and other venues on Tuesday night found much to celebrate in Harris’ ability to rattle the Republican candidate.
In what has shaped up to be a tightly contested race for the White House, with both sides vying for an advantage, it was the Democrats who left the debate feeling energized.
“She put Trump on trial tonight,” said Alina Taylor, a 51-year-old special education teacher attending a debate watch party at Salem Baptist Church of Abington in Philadelphia, where attendees watched the debate on a 33-foot screen.
Regarding Trump, Taylor expressed her dismay. “I was appalled by his performance. People were laughing at him because he wasn’t making much sense.”
In Seattle, a crowd at Massive, a queer nightclub, reacted similarly. They laughed and cheered as Trump accused Harris of being a Marxist and when the moderator corrected his false claim that some states allow babies to be killed after birth.
“He’s getting destroyed,” one attendee remarked.
However, in Brentwood, Tennessee, Sarah Frances Morris remained unshaken in her support for Trump. “I think he won on the border issue,” she said. “He also did better at outlining his plans, whereas Harris mentioned having plans but didn’t really elaborate on them.”
Morris acknowledged that the debate was historic, given Harris’ candidacy as the first Black woman running for president, but added, “I don’t think she did enough to get to where she needs to be.”
At a watch party in Berkeley, 19-year-old UC Berkeley student Dushant Puri noted that Harris took charge before the debate even began, referencing the moment she crossed the stage to shake Trump’s hand. “That was a significant moment,” Puri said. “She asserted herself.”
Fellow student Angel Aldaco, 21, observed that unlike Biden, Harris “came in with a plan and was more concise.” Aldaco was particularly struck by Trump’s bizarre moment, where he endorsed a conspiracy theory about immigrants stealing and eating pets. Harris was visibly stunned by the claim, which Aldaco found memorable.
While it’s unclear how much voters learned about Harris’ policies or if she won over independents or hesitant Republicans, many Democrats felt relieved to see a candidate successfully fluster Trump.
“He loses composure when he’s provoked,” said Ikenna Amilo, an accountant watching from Portland, Maine. “That’s not the temperament you want in a president. Kamala did well to show that.”
Annetta Clark, 50, a Harris supporter from Vallejo, California, watching at an event hosted by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, echoed that sentiment. “I couldn’t even watch the first debate,” she said. “It was too chaotic. But this one, I enjoyed. Trump’s performance? Like arguing with a child. Harris? She was fantastic.”
At a sorority watch party in Markham, Illinois, Democrat Natasha Salas, 63, appreciated Harris’ call to cool the political temperature, even as she took Trump to task. “We all want the same things, whether Democrat or Republican. We’re more alike than different. I just want to see the country move forward with less division.”
The debate also drew international attention. At a migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, Rakan al Muhana, a 40-year-old asylum seeker from Gaza, reacted emotionally when the candidates discussed Israel and Palestine.
“We’re fleeing from war,” he said. “We’re escaping Israeli bombs, but Trump doesn’t see us as human. My four-month-old daughter—for him, she’s a terrorist.”
Al Muhana, who traveled with his wife and four children, left Gaza after his parents were killed in a bombing.
