A solid debate performance and a particularly influential supporter: It suddenly looks like things couldn’t be going much better for Harris. But writing Trump off would be a mistake.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on a TV stage. For around 90 minutes, the two US presidential candidates engaged in a bitter duel in Philadelphia – what began with a handshake turned into a merciless war of words between two bitter rivals in the race for the White House. But there is one person who makes the first encounter between the Democrat and the Republican almost seem like a side issue.
“Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight,” begins a post by Taylor Swift on the Instagram platform quite innocently – published shortly after the duel. But the text is quite powerful: The superstar is supporting Harris in the election campaign and is giving the Democrat a huge boost.
Why Swift’s support is so important for Harris
Taylor Swift is a shining light in the USA. She produces one hit after another and regularly breaks records at award ceremonies. Swift has a huge fan base and around 283 million followers on Instagram alone. Swift came fifth on the Forbes list of the world’s most influential women. Around 53 percent of adults in the USA said in a survey published in 2023 that they were Swift fans. They are considered very loyal. Like the artist, most of her fans in the USA come from suburbs or live in the countryside, and many Swift fans are young women – an important voting group.
The singer was born in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which is a particularly hotly contested election. What’s more, the star’s blessing comes at an important moment. The election campaign is in its decisive phase. There are less than eight weeks until the election on November 5th, and the mail-in voting starts much earlier.
What went well for Harris in the TV duel
After her lightning start as a candidate, Harris benefited for weeks solely from the enthusiasm in her party that there was now some new beginning after the torturous debates about Joe Biden. So far, however, she has moved almost entirely in a protected space of choreographed campaign appearances, with a script and a double bottom.
Standing alone on the debate stage with Trump, without a cheat sheet or other support, was an important test for the 59-year-old. She passed it. She appeared confident, spoke slowly, formulated clear messages, did not stumble, did not let Trump throw her off track and made many verbal attacks without violating any rules of decency. In a snap poll conducted by CNN, 63 percent of respondents saw her as the winner – compared to 37 percent for Trump.
Why Harris’ success is by no means certain
Eight weeks until the election: That’s not much time – but still a lot when it comes to making possible mistakes. It’s hard to imagine that the 59-year-old will get through the remaining weeks without stumbling. Especially since she made a lot of mistakes and scored few points in her previous role as vice president.
In addition, it cannot be ruled out that unforeseen things could happen that could be blamed on the Biden-Harris administration: from the economy to foreign policy. Above all, however, the race against Trump is extremely close according to polls, and both campaigns have to fight for every vote.
In a recent poll, 28 percent of respondents said they did not know enough about Harris – for Trump, the figure was 9 percent. While most people in the US know what to expect from the Republican, far more people are unaware of Harris and her positions. This is a serious problem for Harris, and one that she by no means resolved during the TV debate.
What went well for Trump in the TV debate
The 78-year-old is often angry during his appearances and throws insults below the belt at his political opponents. He held back during the TV debate. Trump was by no means tame – as always, he made particularly derogatory comments about immigrants and did not treat Harris with kid gloves. But Trump’s venomous attacks against his opponent did not escalate into derogatory insults.
Trump is not shy when it comes to racist and sexist insults. And certainly, Trump seemed a little taken aback when Harris shook his hand at the beginning of the debate – but he returned the handshake. The Republican then had nothing good to say about Harris. But by Trump’s standards, the ex-president’s appearance on the TV stage in Philadelphia was almost civilized.
Trump’s women problem
Even though Trump avoided making sexist comments against Harris, the Republican’s problem with female voters was still apparent that evening. Swift underlined her support for Harris with a photo of herself holding a cat. This is a reference to Trump’s running mate JD Vance, who once referred to Democratic politicians, including Harris, as “childless cat women.” And that’s exactly how Swift captioned her Instagram post: “With love and hope, childless cat woman.”
Polls show that Trump, who was sentenced to a fine in a civil case for sexual assault, lacks support, especially among women. Even his former rival in the race for the presidential nomination recently felt compelled to give advice on US television. “Donald Trump and JD Vance need to change the way they talk about women,” said Nikki Haley. You don’t need to talk about intelligence or looks, you just need to focus on the political content.
Why Trump still shouldn’t be written off
Trump may have taken Haley’s advice for the TV debate to heart. But either way: Despite a conviction in a criminal case, several charges, blatant lies and crude insults – Trump continues to enjoy strong support among voters in the country. At the moment, it is difficult to imagine what behavior could dissuade Trump voters from their candidate. Both Harris and Trump have no choice but to concentrate on the undecided in their election campaign.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
