On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met in person for the first time during a debate hosted by ABC. New Mexican elected officials and students at the University of New Mexico supported candidates largely along party lines.
After the debate, 63% of viewers said Harris outperformed Trump, according to a CNN poll. Fox News anchor Brit Hume said “Trump had a bad night,” according to a Fox News post-debate analysis.
In contrast, following the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, 33% of viewers said Biden outperformed Trump, according to a CNN poll.
During the Sept. 10 debate, moderators asked Harris and Trump about their stances on key issues such as abortion, healthcare, immigration, the economy and United States foreign policy.
The candidates spent the most time discussing the economy, spending a joint ten minutes on the subject, followed by almost seven minutes on abortion and just over two minutes on the Israel-Hamas war, according to the New York Times.
In a statement to the Daily Lobo, New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-01) wrote that the debate highlighted the contrast between the potential future presidencies of the candidates.
“Vice President Kamala Harris showed that she will be a president for all Americans and will lead with respect, grace and dignity and has a plan to support our communities; while Donald Trump lied, was incoherent, once again refused to say if he would pass a national abortion ban, refused to concede the 2020 election and lied about Jan. 6,” Stansbury wrote.
New Mexico Rep. John Block (R-51) wrote in a statement to the Daily Lobo that the policies Harris outlined at the debate were “radical” and “out of touch.”
“Trump demonstrated his concrete plans to bring back the successes he implemented in his first term while Harris demonstrated a record of failure and a proclivity to rewrite the past with hollow conjecture,” Block wrote.
Chairman of the Libertarian Party of New Mexico Chris Luchini said the debate featured no good policy ideas. He said Trump is unfit to hold any office, while Harris is unfit to be president based on her policies, like those on guns and wealth taxes.
“These debates are about gotchas and about reciting tropes and bumper stickers that have been memorized, and it’s not useful for the people. A lot of people tuned in for the circus. They didn’t tune in to hear any kind of detailed policy suggestions,” Luchini said.
President of UNM College Democrats, James Hernandez, said he thinks Harris won the debate. She did well with sticking to policy but should have endorsed a more progressive health care plan, Hernandez said.
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“I think that while Harris really describes a lot of her work that she's done with trying to expand the Affordable Care Act, I fundamentally believe that health care is a human right … and her backing away from (Medicare for all) was disappointing,” Hernandez said. “I would love to join literally every other industrialized country in the world and guarantee health care as a right for all people, and I wish Harris would stick to that commitment.”
Trump, when asked about his plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said he has “concepts of a plan” but did not provide details on what the plan would entail. Trump attempted to repeal the ACA during his presidency and promised to replace it if he wins a second term, according to the Associated Press.
Community liaison for UNM College Democrats, Breahna Roark, said that during the debate Harris appealed to those who voted uncommitted in the Democratic primaries. In June, 10% of registered Democrats who showed up to the polls voted not to commit to any of the candidates on the ballot during the primaries.
“I think a lot of those people were voting to get Joe Biden out, and because they were not happy with the nomination. Now we have Harris, and it's a better representation of the people (and) what they want in the Democratic nominee. But I think that the people still need to be convinced,” Roark said.
The UNM chapter of conservative group Turning Point USA did not respond to a request for comment on the debate.
On Sept. 12, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he won the debate and said he would not debate Harris again.
“Trump supporters are very set in their ways, and so are the Harris supporters,” Roark said. “But I think those people who voted non-committal and the people who voted independent are going to pick a side now.”
Lily Alexander is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @llilyalexander
Nate Bernard is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @natebernard14
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
Lily Alexander is the 2024-2025 Editor of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @llilyalexander
