Misogyny Didn鈥檛 Need a Mic During the Trump鈥揌arris Debate

Everything we needed to know about what would happen at between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump鈥攖heir first-ever meeting鈥攚as clear within 30 seconds of them taking the stage.

Harris walked directly up to Trump, extended her hand, and leaned in, even after it was clear that he had no intention of greeting her. In introducing herself, Harris pronounced her name, 鈥淐OMMA-LA,鈥� clearly and correctly, leaving him no excuses to ever mispronounce it again.聽

Harris was confident, in control, and in command of the night.聽

Gender dynamics were on display for much of the high-stakes debate, which Trump spent showing and telling his brand of masculinity to voters. He was divisive, demeaning, and distracting, much of his behavior a reminder of his four years in office and his continued words and actions on the campaign trail. During most of the 90-minute exchange, he ignored the two Black women on stage鈥攁voiding eye contact with Harris and rarely addressing moderator Linsey Davis鈥攊ntentionally choosing to largely engage the only other white man present, moderator David Muir.聽

When Harris addressed Trump, she referred to him respectfully as 鈥渢he former president.鈥� But at no point did he address Harris by her first or last name, nor by her title. Instead, Trump made frequent references to 鈥渉er boss鈥� when mentioning President Joe Biden in an effort to diminish Harris鈥� leadership and agency.

The candidates鈥� microphones were muted while their opponents spoke, a rule set when Biden was the candidate and one that Harris unsuccessfully fought to reverse. But her facial expressions, ranging from exhausted to incredulous to amused, did the talking as an often scowling Trump made various false statements on , , and his repeated claim that he won the 2020 election.聽

He tried to control the stage鈥攁nd at times attempted to dominate Harris. 鈥淚鈥檓 talking now, if you don鈥檛 mind, please. Does that sound familiar?鈥� Trump said sarcastically at one point when Harris attempted to interject, referencing Harris saying 鈥淚鈥檓 speaking鈥� to Vice President Mike Pence in a 2020 debate after he tried to interrupt her. Toward the end of the debate, Trump essentially tried to shush her again, simply saying, 鈥淨uiet, please,鈥� during an answer on how he would handle the war on Russia.

There was also no live audience at the debate, but the audience Harris was speaking to was clear. She had two goals on Tuesday: to speak directly to voters who may just be learning about her candidacy, which is still barely 50 days old, and to expose Trump to viewers, reminding them of his temperament and tone.

She did both with a smile and a laugh, which he has also ridiculed, while using Trump鈥檚 own tactics to draw him out. When asked a question about immigration鈥攁 thorny issue for her as vice president鈥擧arris鈥� response quickly shifted the subject from one that inflames voters to one that inflamed Trump: his rallies, and in particular, the implication that his crowds are starting to dwindle.

鈥淗e鈥檚 going to talk about immigration a lot tonight even when it鈥檚 not the subject that is being raised,鈥� Harris said before proceeding to change the topic herself.

鈥淚鈥檓 going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump鈥檚 rallies, because it鈥檚 a really interesting thing to watch,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淲hat you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you, the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you.鈥�

Instead of responding to Harris鈥� claims that Trump intentionally sabotaged federal legislation to reform immigration or attacking her record on the issue, before repeating a bizarre, racist, and false claim that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in small-town communities across the country. Contrast shown.

Heading into Tuesday night, Trump had referred to his opponent as 鈥渃razy,鈥� 鈥渄umb,鈥� 鈥渃rooked,鈥� a liar, 鈥済rossly incompetent,鈥� 鈥渓ow IQ,鈥� and 鈥渨eak.鈥� While it was initially unclear whether he would show his contempt for Harris on stage, he was ultimately unable to resist.聽

By the end of the night, Harris shut down every stereotype he has tried to pin on her. When he doubled down on questioning her Blackness, Harris pointed to the response as part of a stale playbook rooted in racism and sexism that should be a relic of our politics.

Ahead of the debate, Trump insisted on Truth Social that 鈥渘o boxes or artificial lifts鈥� be allowed during the debate for the shorter Harris, implying that to do so would be a form of cheating. In the end, it was the former president, almost a foot taller than Harris, who came across as smaller.

This story was originally published by and is reprinted here under a Creative Commons license. This column first appeared in The Amendment, a by Errin Haines, The 19th鈥檚 editor-at-large.

Errin Haines is the editor-at-large at The 19th. An award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of experience, Errin was previously a national writer on race for the Associated Press. She鈥檚 also worked at the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.

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