Harris Aces the Debate: Presidential, Poised–and Pointedly Funny

As many of us watched the debate Tuesday night, we eagerly looked for Kamala Harris to be on the offensive and in control. And she did just that, and with the grace and poise of a leader who is ready to step up to be President and lead the American people. What I was not expecting was her use of humor during the debate. After the right tried to seize on her laugh, it was refreshing to see her hold on to that energy.??

When we hear Trump make insane and racist claims, from immigrants eating pets to inmates receiving transgender surgeries, of course he sounds ridiculous. It can be easy to roll our eyes and dismiss such commentary as nonsense. But Kamala seized these opportunities to lean into an attack. She deftly mocked Trump’s claims with a smirk or a smile that showed the ridiculousness of the arguments he was presenting without giving them the platform of an argument with substance.? She refused to take him seriously, and modeled behavior for all of us.??

This builds off Tim Walz calling Trump supporters “weird.” The two running mates are comfortable using humor to disarm many far-right leaders whose vitriol for non-white candidates and constituents cannot be contained. Humor has long been a tool against Facism, going back to magazines in Italy using satire to protest Musolini.?

As November draws near, I hope Kamala continues to troll Trump. She puts him on the defensive and more importantly she reminds us that hateful ideas are not serious, they are not worthy of debate.?

#presidential #presidentialdebate #November #elections