Anton Savage: Let them eat cats - how Kamala Harris avoided Trump debate traps that snared others

Originally published in the Business Post.

The universal consensus is that Kamala Harris destroyed Donald Trump in Tuesday’s debate.

Chris Wallace - formerly one of Fox News’ most significant broadcasters - described it as being equal to the defeat suffered by Joe Biden.

Even Elon Musk, who has dedicated himself and his rapidly devaluing social network to Trump-sycophancy, admitted Harris came out on top.

While almost everyone is agreed she won, most of the analysis has failed to fully identify how.

Some praise her for being calm, some for goading the former president. Yeah sure, she did both well, but her victory was more complex than that.

First, she avoided the trap that catch so many - pointing out Trump’s flaws and expecting the scales to fall from the electorate’s eyes.

We all (supporters and opponents) know he’s a lying, hyperbolic narcissist who inherited a vast fortune.

What Harris did was show how his flaws impact voters - his self-delusion was a problem not in and of itself, but because it showed him unable to assess the facts before him, calling into question his judgement as commander-in-chief.

His silver-spoon parental inheritance was not bad per se, it was a problem because it rendered him unable to empathise with people struggling to afford their own homes and therefore work in their best interests.

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