'Far more nefarious': Jake Tapper guesses what contributed to Trump's debate performance

On the border. Another vulnerable issue for Harris. She also dodged. Would you have done anything differently from President Biden on this? So I'm the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs and human beings? Okay, that wasn't the question. When asked how she would break through the Israel-Hamas War stalemate, Harris said this. We need a ceasefire deal and we need the hostages out. And so we will continue to work around the clock on that. Okay. But again, how? Trump, meanwhile, was also busy not answering his big questions. His non-answers were in many ways revealing in different ways. He would not say whether or not he would veto a national abortion ban. I'm not in favor of abortion ban, but it doesn't matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states. Would you veto a national abortion ban? Well, I won't have to. He never gave a yes or no on that. And Mr. Trump would also not say that Ukraine winning the war against Russia would be in America's best interest. I think it's the U.S. best interest to get this war finished and just get it done. All right. Negotiate a deal. As he runs for a second term, he did not stand by his recent seeming admission that he lost the 2020 election by a whisker. Are you that are you now acknowledging that you lost in 2020? Acknowledge that it all. Mr. Trump did not take any opportunity to take the opportunity to express any remorse for any of his own actions or inactions during the January 6th attack, which of course resulted in injuries and the deaths of multiple individuals, including police officers. After the attack, defending the Capitol. Is there anything you regret about what you did on that day yesterday? I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. The notion that Mr. Trump had nothing to do with the disaster of January 6th is so obviously false. It is rather stunning. And while none of those were shining moments for the former president, let us turn back to that one unmistakable reason why Trump's debate performance was so, shall we say, wanting. Understand that Trump has siloed himself off into an unhealthy media ecosystem. Now, many politicians, many Americans do do this. They limit their intake of information to that which comports with their preexisting beliefs and narratives. It's a booming business website. It's cable channels that generally only interview folks from one party or the other, with anchors openly rooting for one candidate or the other. What we saw last night with Mr. Trump, however, is something far more nefarious. It's evidence of someone not just stuck in an information silo, but a misinformation silo. The most notorious evidence of that last night came with this outrageous and more than a little bit racist lie about Haitians in one town in Ohio, in Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. This must be the craziest subject to ever rear its head. In the American presidential debate, Trump latched on to this dark corners of the internet claim with zero supporting evidence. Springfield city officials tell CNN there have been no credible reports of pets being harmed, injured or abused by people within the immigrant community. Conservative commentator Erick Erickson noted, quote, the lying is on the right got Trump to regurgitate their lie. He could have focused on the actual problems in Springfield, but ran with the lie from the idiots on social media, unquote. Trump is actually traveling with some of these folks, conspiracy peddlers. We should note a veritable legion of doom, of bigots and liars, perhaps none so depraved as this woman, Laura Loomer. Here she is getting off of Trump's plane. Before yesterday's debate. Just on Sunday, she posted an insanely, insanely racist message that if Harris, whose mom was an Indian immigrant, wins, quote, the white House will smell like curry and white House speeches will be facilitated via a call center, unquote, on this 23rd anniversary of 9/11. We should also note, Loomer posted last year that 911 was a, quote, inside job, unquote. Trump continues to bring this person along on his travels with with him. Why? I don't know, but we should note it's not just Loomer who's in Trump's circle embracing this. Migrants are eating your cat's meat. It was also pushed by Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance. Another lawmakers who frankly, often seem more motivated by a desire for clicks and owning the libs on social media instead of facts and truth. Vance has acknowledged the possibility that all these rumors will turn out to be false, unquote. But nonetheless, he urged his supporters to, quote, keep the cat memes flowing so as to not, quote, let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots, Vance told CNN's Kaitlan Collins last night. The falsehoods are necessary, necessary in order to shame the media and to covering these issues. The people on the ground dealing with this think that it is happening. And I think that it's important for journalists to actually get on the ground and uncover this stuff for themselves. Wild stuffs, lies from a senator lies with a higher purpose. Now, the misinformation silo may be why Trump mostly bypassed all these issues where he could have scored real points against Vice President Harris. Inflation, the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. Serious actual issues related to the immigration crisis. Trump instead sounded like a fortune post come to life, which is great if you're going after voters who want a focus on conspiracy theories and unhinged lies. But if you're trying to win a debate and an election, it's for the dogs. Let's dive into all of this with my panel. Kate. Today, several Democrats are expressing concerns about how tight this race spill. Let's take a listen. This race is going to come down to, you know, just a few thousand votes, probably. Everybody is all hands on deck. Everybody is. We have a campaign that is not taking any vote for granted. I'm very concerned. And I tell people all the time, you know, somebody asked me in Chicago, what did you learn from 2016? And I say, you can't win by little. You got to win by winning. The debate is not winning an election. Yeah, absolutely. And there's no question the race is very, very close. I mean, if you look at where things stand in the battleground states that are ultimately going to decide the election. This is a coin toss race. And I think Democrats are smart to to keep that in mind. It can be easy sometimes in the wake of a night last night where there's no question that VP Harris turned in a terrific performance and really, I think eight away at some of Trump's perceived strength in this race, particularly by making him seem weak and defensive and constantly engaging on her terms. So I thought she did a terrific service for herself and her candidacy last night. But it is important to not lose sight of the fact that winning a debate is not winning the election. but I do think what she did really effectively was put the contrast on display. I mean, you had Donald Trump shouting about migrants eating dogs. rather than talking about issues that are that matter to people in these swing states. And I thought she came across as confident, calm, effective. and, you know, if you're a person who's deciding who is the person with the temperament that I want to put in the Oval Office, I think the question last night was, was was pretty clear. Ramesh, do you think we'll see another debate? And if you were advising Trump, would you tell him that he should do another debate? If I were advising Trump, which is very hard to about. I think, I would ask for a do over, if only because even if it's another bad debate, at least each one is less important. If you have more than one, I just water it down. Yes. Right. No, but the problem is the problem with with the Trump was on display last night. It was the same Trump we always see really, is that he doesn't have any self-control. He doesn't have any self-discipline. That's one of the reasons so many Americans have decided he's not fit for office. And that was what he was displaying. And, Jamie, we have a new indication of how well Harris's team thinks the debate went. The new Kamala HQ Twitter account posted our newest ad just dropped and then just a link to the entire, debate. On top of that, you point to some of the body language moments, starting with the handshake. Vice President Harris went right over, to, Donald Trump the same way, by the way Ronald Reagan did with Jimmy Carter in 1980. Kind of like I'm here. What's going on, buddy? She took control of the situation immediately with that. I just want to say that social media account, they know what they're doing. They're using humor over and over again. Donald Trump is not known for having a great sense of humor and especially about himself. But but just to talk about what she did last night, the handshake, those faces, the smile, the slow handshake, which my husband says I'm guilty of doing from time to time. That was a political strategy by the campaign going into last night. We keep talking about the debate and the substance. And you talked about the lack of policy, but we also keep using the word performance. Yeah. And Donald Trump knows from his perspective it is a performance art. And they met him there. We saw him destroy 16 Republicans on the debate stage in 2016. Last night he met his match. You know, she really took him on. And all of those little things, the smiles, it makes a difference. Now, they telegraphed on that ahead of time that she was going to try to bait him into nonsense. And you saw there was this she gave an answer on health care and she kind of just threw for whatever reason. We know the reason. She mentioned John McCain doing the thumbs down. She even did the thumbs down. Sorry. There it is. when he destroyed his, Trump's attempt to to get rid of Obamacare, repeal Obamacare, there's no reason to mention that except to get under his skin. And if you look back, I want to show you a little montage we created just for you on of some of some of the charm that she threw into the water. Take a listen. people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. Well, I think this is so rich coming from someone who has been prosecuted. Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. Clearly, he is having a very difficult time processing that world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump. I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you're a disgrace. I mean, she's even using with disgrace. There are some of the his the language he uses. And it's just it's just he took every he took every every bite and then.