Harris promises lack details, Trump's style remains petty
Claims that Trump is afraid to debate Harris may have merit, but not debating benefits Trump and hurts Harris far more. The 60 Minutes interview with Harris and without Trump didn't help Harris
By Ray Hanania
FREE/Presidential Election/Friday Oct. 11, 2024
Much is being made of former President Donald Trump’s refusal to participate in another debate with Kamala Harris, this time hosted by FOX News, with left-leaning media pundits asserting that his refusal to participate is an example of Trump’s weakness.
Pro-Harris pundits assert Trump is afraid to debate Harris because he lost when he went face-to-face with her in Philadelphia.
That’s an interesting spin on a much different reality, however, from what most voters saw (or didn’t see) when Harris was interviewed on her own by veteran reporter Bill Whitaker on CBS TV’s 60 Minutes News.
Harris smiled a lot. But she didn’t do very well in that interview at all, never offering substance or plans to solve the challenges facing America like the economy, illegal immigration, and rising crime.
But I will come back to that.
Let’s first look at what happened in the last two debates Trump did participate in.
Trump debated twice, first with President Joe Biden on June 28, 2024 hosted by pro-Biden media CNN in Atlanta; and then again later with Biden’s successor and Democratic Party nominee Harris on September 10 hosted by pro-Harris media ABC TV News in Philadelphia.
The first CNN debate was orchestrated to give Biden an advantage, to allow him to speak without having to engage in direct back-and-forth argument with Trump. That debate on June 28, 2024 in Atlanta was choreographed to prevent Trump from being “disruptive,” by turning off the microphones.
The CNN debate was done intentionally outside of the Presidential Debate Commission, which is more objective and fair, but allowed CNN, which favors Harris, to create an environment they believed would help Biden.
If Biden is not running, you can blame — or thank — CNN.
Where the Presidential Debate Commission debates would have focused on fewer issues to allow candidates to provide more extensive details on their solutions to the problems, the CNN debate covered so many issues only a superficial clash took place.
The public did not see or hear any detailed discussion or debate about how either candidate would address the many challenges Americans face.
Instead, CNN’s intentionally “controlled” debate pushed Trump’s aggressive personality to the sidelines and allowed the American people an unobstructed look at Biden. And what they saw was shocking, Biden’s cognitive deficiencies and difficulties in addressing major issues, on his stumbling and confusion of names, was to troubling to miss.
It was a disaster for Biden. He was forced to step down and hand over the Democratic Party nomination to Harris, his inexperienced vice president who spent nearly three and one-half years in the shadows off the stage with very little public exposure. That happens to alot of vice presidents.
In the Philadelphia debate, the same restrictions were placed on Trump and Harris, preventing Trump’s disruptive style from interfering with Harris. The publci got a good look at Harris and the end result was two-fold.
Like the first debate, this debate was shallow. All the voters saw was the division between the two candidates and they never got a chance to hear answers to the substantive challenges facing Americans, from the poor economy to the growing threat of illegal aliens and migrants, and crime.
But, Harris did far better than Biden, she was declared “the winner” solely because the unknown candidate held her own. She stood up to Trump in a debate environment that made it easy for her to stand up to Trump. She didn’t stumble or forget things as Biden did.
It was a low-threshold in order to win, but it was a “win” nonetheless.
The next debate is supposed to be hosted by the more conservative FOX News Network that was planned for late October — either Oct. 24 or Oct. 27. But Trump has rejected the debate calling it irrelevant.
Why? Well, he watched the highly touted interview Harris did with CBS 60 Minutes, (that he also declined to participate in). It is clear that without Trump’s combative style, the public got to see Harris for what she really is. On her terms. Without interruption, distractions, attacks or diversions.
That may not have been such a good idea.
What the public saw in the 60 Minutes interview with Whitaker was a candidate who relies more on slogans in responding to questions that were much tougher than those Harris faced in the ABC News debate Sept. 10 which she “won.”
With Trump not grilled on the 60 Minutes report, Harris’ defensive obstruction was removed. There was nothing to hide behind. Her inability to address issues was easily seen.
By not debating Harris, Trump removes himself from preventing the public to really see Harris. She has no answers. She has no solutions. She has slogans. Gimmicks, giving small businesses a large deduction. She has no answers to how she will rebuild our damaged economy and giving some small businesses a tax break won’t solve our economic challenges.
She has no answers to the growing illegal immigrant crisis. Remember, the issue isn’t about “immigrants,” as the biased media asserts. It is aout illegal immigration and illegal aliens who are receiving millions in government support that should instead be going to help American citizens who are in need.
He answers to Whitaker were shallow and lacked substance.
In fact, in one instance. CBS 60 Minutes edited Harris’ answer to a series of Whitaker questions on what Harris would do with indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has taken more than $110 billion to pay for bombs and missiles intended to target “terrorists” but have instead taken the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, women and children, in Gaza and Lebanon.
The actual interview response from Harris was tougher on Israel and Netanyahu than what was aired, and was edited by CBS 60 Minutes, helping Harris to avoid losing support among pro-Israel American voters.
But even the broadcast response from Harris to Whitaker’s remark that Netanyahu is not listening to America, which provides the money and support, on avoiding the killing of civilians, exposed Harris’ weakness:
Harris said in her “word salad style” (a phrase former President Obama uses often to criticize Trump), “We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war (Gaza) to end.”
The substantive answer would have been to say how you might stop the war, which she never reveals.
In fact, it was like that with every question.
On the troubled economy, Harris said, "My economic plan would strengthen America’s economy. His would weaken it." Harris said her plan relied on "strengthening small businesses," referring to the plan to give $50,000 in tax deductions to first-time startup small businesses.
Maybe Harris doesn’t know that the problem isn’t small businesses starting up, but rather consumers being forced to pay enormous increases for groceries (up 30 percent), home and vehicle insurance, (up 40 percent), and retail commodities (up 35 percent), while the “inflation rate” Biden asserts has only been 2.5 percent!
Asked again how she would pay for the small business benefit, Harris responded she would raise taxes on "the richest among us who can afford it."
On illegal immigration, Harris said, “It's a longstanding problem. And solutions are at hand. And from day one, literally, we have been offering solutions.”
What are the solutions? Harris doesn’t say.
The bottom line, when left on her own for the public to see and hear, she offers very little. She needs Trump’s combative personality as a distraction from her shallowness on issues.
The voters can see someone who doesn’t have specific answers to the tough questions. She just has smiles. Laughter. Slogans. Headlines. And, generic obscure promises. We’ll fight crime, restore women’s rights, restore abortion, stop illegal immigration, improve the economy.
How?
Harris doesn’t say.
Trump is smart to avoid the FOX News debate, and to not to be used by Harris as a shield in a debate. Harris would love to have the voters focus on Trump’s disruptive argumentative style, rather than on her own shallow answers to the nation’s toughest problems.
That’s one reason why Harris avoid press conference and media interviews by more objective journalists.