Pittsburghers react to high-profile presidential debate between Harris, Trump

One point stood out to Emily Vaughan after she watched a tense debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump: Harris goaded Trump into rambling, and it worked very well.

“Trump fell for every single offensive statement that Harris threw his way, spiraling into yelling about completely unrelated topics and spewing blatant lies about Harris, his policies, and current and past political events,” said Vaughn, a 22-year-old student from Squirrel Hill.

She described herself as a Democratic Socialist and said Harris was the clear winner of the debate. What stood out to her was Harris positioning herself as independent of President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race in July and endorsed her.

Vaughn praised Harris for speaking directly to Trump and saying, “You’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me.”

She was one of several Western Pennsylvania voters who spoke to TribLive following Tuesday night’s debate between Harris and Trump.

The two battled in a contentious forum hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, the first-ever matchup between the two presidential hopefuls. It was the second debate of the presidential race. The first in June featured a disastrous performance by President Joe Biden that ultimately led to him dropping out and endorsing his vice president.

Harris has closed the gap with Trump in polls, and has overtaken Trump marginally in many surveys. The two rivals are also locked in a tight contest in the all-important swing states. A YouGov/CBS poll from last week has Harris and Trump locked in at 50% support each in Pennsylvania.

There was no studio audience during the debate. No campaign staff were allowed in the room.

Gene Mazo, a Duquesne University law professor who specializes in politics, said Harris won the debate very easily.

Harris didn’t directly answer the first question about the economy, and gave what appeared to be a rehearsed response, but then settled in as the debate went along.

But Trump rambled and yelled answers for many questions, including making some outrageous claims about immigrants eating people’s pets in Ohio.

Harris often goaded Trump into rambling about unrelated topics, and Trump took the bait several times.

“They both started with rehearsed lines and at times they didn’t answer questions, but at the end of the day, Harris came across as non-crazy and competent,” Mazo said.

He said Harris stayed on message about turning a new page away from the Trump era. Mazo said at times, Trump used typical conservative talking points about rising crime, but they would venture down the wrong road, like praising the Hungarian prime minister and making wild claims that immigrants in Ohio are eating dogs in the streets.

Even some Republicans admitted it wasn’t Trump’s strongest debate.

Allegheny County Councilman at-large Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, said Trump has had better debates and missed a number of opportunities to hit Harris over rising grocery prices and failed border policies.

He lamented the ABC moderators and said they were too strict on Trump and didn’t give the same scrutiny to Harris’ answers. He said they should have interjected when Harris tried to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration written by a conservative think tank.

Trump denied any association with the blueprint during the debate.

Regardless, DeMarco thinks the debate won’t change many people’s minds, and said many in the race are already decided on who they are supporting.

“I don’t see people changing their mind after this debate,” he said. “They are fighting over a small sliver of undecided voters. I don’t know if debate will make a big difference.”

None of the voters that spoke to TribLive were undecided, but Democrats were fired up and energized by Harris’ performance.

One voter, Gaby Davis, an 18-year-old Point Park University dance major from Wisconsin, said she is an independent and plans to support Harris.

“She really addressed the voters as a whole and she really came across that she cares for the people and not just her policies,” Davis said.

She said she was shocked when Trump said Democrats want to kill babies after they are born.

“That’s just incorrect,” Davis said. “That was wild to me.”

Davis said the debate did not sway her one way or the other.

“I come from a very well-rounded family (that supports) research what you want and get all the facts before you make an opinion,” Davis said. “None of this information was new, but it was nice to have more details (on their positions). Because I had gone into the debate having research done, it was easy for me to say, ‘that makes sense, that makes sense, that doesn’t make sense.’ ”

Ray Chen, 42, of Mt. Lebanon, said Harris won the debate and was amazed at how she controlled the debate.

“She knows exactly how to hit Trump’s ego, and he’s spiraling with a lot of incomprehensible rambling,” said Chen, who works in life science sales and is a Democrat.

David Binkoski, an operations director for a local food supplier, is a Democrat and said he appreciated Harris focusing on how to help small businesses.

“Kamala Harris answered the questions truthfully and offered clear solutions to real problems facing everyday Americans,” said Binkoski, 36, of Mt. Washington. “Specifically, child and small business tax credits that will be game-changers to moving our country forward.”

He was also encouraged by Harris’ answers on abortion and reproductive health care. He appreciated her backing reestablishing Roe v. Wade and thought it provided a clear contrast with Trump.

Trump said during the debate that Americans wanted Roe v. Wade ended and was given the power to change abortion access via individual states. Public polling shows that ending Roe v. Wade was largely unpopular.

Chris Beam, 30, is a software engineer who lives in Pittsburgh. A Democrat, he said Harris stuck more to specific policies than Trump. He said Trump seemed more unhinged than what he remembers from the 2020 election.

He also saw a contrast between Trump and Harris, especially over the economy.

“She immediately highlighted the national housing crisis and the need to build 3 million new homes so that families can afford to live in places with good job prospects,” Beam said. “His plan for tariffs on imports is economic suicide.”

A local Republican was more bullish on Trump’s performance.

Mike McMullen, 54, is a consultant from Richland and a Republican delegate for the Republican National Convention.

He said Trump was the clear winner, and said he was effective in getting his message across, and put a large focus on the importance of Pennsylvania.

Trump claimed in the debate that Harris has been against fracking for 12 years, and said she will continue that opposition.

He said that if Harris won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania “will end on day one” of her administration.

Harris said she will not ban fracking. She added that she was the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act that opened up new investment in natural gas and said the country needs to have a diverse domestic energy production so we are less reliant on foreign oil.

McMullen said the debate showed just how important Pennsylvania will be for the rest of the campaign.

“The road to the White House goes through the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” McMullen said. “We have 56 days to go.”