Breaking down the biggest moments in the Harris-Trump debate

How big is Taylor Swift's endorsement? so Katie uh can we start you know what let's not start with a debate let's start with a major endorsement uh that many have been waiting for uh Taylor Swift endorsing kamla Harris right after the debate um I think we have a board where we can show you uh her endorsement she signs it I think childless cat lady um how big of an impact is that as well as her nudge to people to just go register to vote well this is not necessarily a surprise but it's certainly something that the kamla Harris Tim Walls campaign they are going to welcome Taylor Swift has waited into politics before um and and often they'll site you know she put on her Instagram story urging people a message to her followers and her supporters urging them to register to vote and in the 24 hours after she did that um certain places in the United States saw a surge and people registering to vote um we've seen politicians in Washington try to avoid upsetting her um people like Senator Marsha Blackburn who's a republican from Tennessee staunch Ally of Donald Trump um she said some uh she was questioned about Taylor Swift criticizing Republicans from her home state and she walked so carefully to try to not upset Taylor Swift and the swifties she's one of the most famous people in the world so of course there's going to be a lot of uh excitement enthusiasm from the Harris camp on that one okay but let's What's the big story after this debate? talk about their feelings uh both from both camps after this debate uh Phillip last time there was an immediate feeling that Joe Biden was in enormous political trouble right that there was no other talking point or any other overwhelming sensation after the debate that was the single narrative I don't know about this one because it was a rattling Fierce debate to watch but I don't know if there's a single narrative yeah I I feel like there's a it certainly not to the extent that there was in June when when Joe Biden came out and gave the performance that he did but I think it's very clear that th Harris was the more effective debater in in this exchange for a variety of reasons I mean she was more pointed she was more prepared on her comments she was less likely to stray and she very successfully goated him multiple times into talking about what she wanted him to talk about uh you know Donald Trump has never been a strong debater he has consistently with the exception of that Biden debate consistently been outperformed and it hasn't really mattered over the long run uh which is probably the the key lesson we should take away here uh but then said yeah I mean while it certainly wasn't the sort of Game Changer that we saw in June I don't think I think it's very hard to argue that Donald Trump came out doing better tonight than did Caris yeah interesting point about the debates I think we're all reminded that that people said that Hillary Clinton won both the debates after uh you know with Donald Trump and that didn't make a wit of difference um you know abortion was a Hot Topic it was Kamala Harris's abortion response inevitably going to be discussed tonight and if we do have a clip here so let's take a listen to what vice president Harris had to say on that Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body I have talked with women around our country you want to talk about this is what people wanted pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage being denied care in an emergency room because the healthc care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she's bleeding out in a car in the park lot she didn't want that hey Chris 90 minutes is a long time is anyone going to remember that moment well yeah I mean I think they probably will because I think the Harris campaign will smartly push that answer out to literally everyone on social media and fundraising emails and that sort of thing and remember debates are about moments and I think that was a moment for her and and frankly uh politics and debates particularly are about accentuating the things you want to talk about and spending less time on the things you don't want to talk about Donald Trump goes into that debate wanting to talk about the economy and immigration uh KLA Harris wants to talk about abortion as much as she can there was a lot more abortion talk particularly in the first 30 to 40 minutes when the audience is going to be the largest because it's you know 9:00 hour on the on the East Coast uh then there was immigration and and then there was the economy and I think that's a win I'm I'm with philli um I think it's hard do you say how much this impacts the race but I think it's easy to say that on points she won the won the debate and I I don't think it was particularly close so all of us are sitting here Voter reaction to the big debate moments imagining what people are thinking Katie is is was at a watch party uh in the I guess newly minted swing state of North Carolina wasn't always a swing state I I'm curious about two things Katie firstly in that moment that we're talking about did that feel like a moment in the room uh and also what is what are you picking up from what people heard tonight it certainly did feel like a moment inside the room because the people inside were mostly Democrats who were watching this debate uh at this debate at this particular party that we were here in Charlotte um and uh they really uh a lot of people were really pleased with the debate performance that they saw from kamla Harris um there were moments where they cheered um when kamla Harris would seem to roll her eyes or sort of laugh at some of the things that Donald Trump was saying uh some of his more outlandish claims like uh things about uh migrants eating pets or claims about election fraud that certainly got a strong reaction from people in this room um a lot of them have already made up their mind they're going to be voting for KLA Harris but one thing that will really stand out to me uh Adrian is that I spoke with one woman who is a Democrat she's supporting KLA Harris she's knocking on doors for her but she says in this moment when she looks at these two candidates from her perspective the choice is clear that there is no sort of like there's no really um she doesn't think it should be a close contest and she's so frustrated that in this country in the United States at this moment that this race appears to be dead even to be split and she finds it so frustrating when she looks at a candidate like kamla Harris who she thinks is competent who she thinks uh would represent America really well in the world and she looks at Donald Trump who she does not agree with and does not support uh she finds it so frustrating that this race is close interesting uh I'd like to play us Trump's claim migrants are eating pets another clip if we can this one uh is Donald Trump he's angry he's talking about immigration he's talking about the things that uh happen when people come into the United States and it's strange so buckle up here 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 and this is what's happening in our country so look this was very quickly fact checked uh by the moderators which was an interesting thing that happened in this debate right this this was unusual they were doing real-time factchecking is not being true but uh philli what did that moment uh tell you about this debate and the strategy they were both uh employing here yeah I mean it told me a couple things about Trump here the first is that he as always going back to this well of immigrants are dangerous and scary that's what I mean he launched his campaign in June 2015 with that exact same rhetoric it has been his go-to it's what made him successful in 2016 the Republican nominating contest it's what continues to keep his base strong today uh but it also showed to me that he is so mired in his bubble so deep inside this conversational space in which that that claim this this nonsensical racist Trope about immigrants eating pets from their neighbors uh really started to percolate very heavily on the right-wing uh uh conversational space put her and and those sorts of places yesterday and it very quickly got to Trump's team and this is something that his his base is really excited about making these these these these really gross and false claims uh and that he was unable to understand in the moment this isn't the place to talk about that the that first of all he didn't deliver it well like he didn't like make the claim in a in a sensible way to people who didn't know what he was talking about but that he didn't understand that this was not the time and place for it I think was pretty remarkable in a sign of the way in which kamla Harris was better able to actually debate within the context of the debate you know we we talked a lot before this How Trump debated Harris overall debate about you know how is Donald Trump going to walk this line because he has been accused he has said some you know misogynistic things fair amount of them uh in in the past uh it's been difficult sometimes for him to navigate the space with with debating a woman in particular how is he going to handle it any thoughts on on how he did there Chris um you know he sort of only has one speed you know one gear um I'm not sure it's that different with women than men I mean he's just just kind of a he's sort of bullying and and and sort of a uh that kind of presence I I will say I was struck at one point he was talking and Harris said something off mic and he turned and said quiet please which if that had happened with any other politician not named Donald Trump and a female candidate it would be a huge thing and and because it's Donald Trump I think we're like well it's not that big a deal I mean you know I I cannot imagine his answers on abortion uh not that all all women are single-issue voters on that but but I think it is more personal to to many women I cannot imagine his answers on abortion were particularly persuasive and again to start to finish where we started I do think that was her single best answer of the night personalizing it saying you know Donald Trump's sort of flip response has always been everyone wanted roie Wade to be overturned and that that's always not been true but to call it out and say there are you know uh people who are have a child as as a result of incest incest or rape or uh have a a problem with their pregnancy you know to to Really personalize I think is powerful particularly coming from from a woman and particularly as you point out against someone like Donald Trump who has made so many comments uh about uh uh women in a derogatory way yeah you know Philip Calls for clarity from candidates on policy there was a lot of conversation beforehand people want to hear about policy they want to hear policy I mean how many times did people tell us us they also want to hear foreign policy so they got some foreign policy um what's your sense of whether they were actually paying attention yeah I mean look I don't mean to be AIC people don't want to hear about policy people don't really care that much they want to have in Broad Strokes so policy is they want to know how where people stand on abortion but they don't want to hear you know I think one of Donald Trump's the lines that will last the longest was when he was asked if he finally had a plan to replace Healthcare uh which he's been saying he has since 2016 he says well you have concepts of plans which is just such a ridiculous answer but it's it's very much speaking to that yeah I mean no one ever expected him to actually have a plan on Healthcare uh what people are watching these debates for and look debates are not good proxies for being president as president you don't get there and you don't you know the a good president isn't someone who's able to out debate someone it's just it's how we it's how we sort of do this thing uh and so what people take away from the debates is just sort of a sense of how people uh you know the the sense they get from the candidate to a large extent uh and uh you know I think that that the the idea that we all have we all like to pride ourselves on well I really want to know what their policies are uh but I don't think that's what makes a difference and I think it's going to be little nuggets little incidents like the the quotes from from Harris that you played and from Trump that you played that spread on social media I think those are going to have an effect far more than if there had been a you know a really detailed substantive policy discussion what a world this is all right Philip bump Chris lizza Katie Simpson thank you so much thank you