The 2024 Presidential Debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

 

Yesterday night an important occurrence. That event was the first 2024 Presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It was the first time that a black and South Asian woman would be part of a Presidential debate among Republicans and Democrats. This period of time is the end of this 2024 historic election. When people vote, they should think about civil rights, voting rights, the dignity of women, and the importance of maintaining our democracy. If the wrong person is elected, this could be the last Presidential election of our lifetimes. This is not hyperbole. This is the fundamental reality. Debates relate to sometimes entertainment. Yet, debates also focus on historic quotes, the verbal comebacks, policy positions, polling, and the aftermath of the debate. This debate was very personal. I can't sugarcoat that point, because Trump has made racist and sexist attacks against Kamala Harris. Harris was the Attorney General of California, was a Senator, and is Vice President, so Kamala Harris is perfectly qualified to run for President as she has tons of executive and legislative experience. Donald Trump is a habitual liar, a bigot, and a convicted felon, but he can't be underestimated. During this time, most people have set their views on who to vote for in stone. This debate will deal with a minority of voters who will go either way. As for me, I will vote for democracy in November of 2024.

The 2024 Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris has been finished. The debate started with the economy and the cost of living. Vice President Kamala Harris was asked first about the economy and if the nation was better off now than four years ago. Harris gave an answer about start-off resources to help new homeowners and business owners. She opposes a tariff by calling it a sales tax. Trump denies having a sales tax and desires tariffs to target other nations like China. He said that millions of people (who are migrants and undocumented immigrants) are coming to America to steal jobs from African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and other Americans. He said that migrants are dangerous, and he wants to get them out of America. Harris responded by using a compare and contrast response about what Donald Trump has left America with economic problems, a lax response to the pandemic, and Project 2025. Trump denies having any involvement in Project 2025. Trump is false to assume that his response to the pandemic was great. Trump's response to the pandemic caused economic turmoil while millions of Americans died. Harris said that numerous economic experts prefer her economic plan to Trump's economic plan. What Trump doesn't get is that China may retaliate against American goods if his tariff plan becomes a reality. China won't do nothing about tariff as history has proven. Trump lied and said that Kamala Harris has no plan, is a Marxist, and has policies that would ruin America. Kamala Harris' website and speech detail a cogent plan for what she desires for the future of America. Trump and Kamala Harris debated each other on abortion. Trump wants the abortion issues to return to the states, and Harris wants a national law to codify Roe V. Wade as the law of the land.  Trump claims to support IVF. Kamala Harris said that she supported a bipartisan immigration bill that would use resources to fight transnational organizations trafficking drugs. She said that Trump influenced many Republicans to stop the bipartisan immigration issue. Trump forgets that the vast majority of migrants and undocumented immigrants are not rapists, murderers, and eaters of animals (Trump is wrong to say that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating people's pets).

I watched the whole debate, and it is easy to witness that Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump by just speaking clearly to outline her vision for America and refuting the blatant lies from Trump. Trump said that Kamala Harris wants to take all Americans' guns. That is a lie as Kamala Harris is a gun owner, and she wants reasonable gun regulations to prevent the massive gun shootings from destroying the lives of innocent human beings in vicious ways.  Donald Trump used 90 minutes to show lies, hate, and vitriol. Kamala Harris mentioned that she wants America to move forward from the divisiveness from Trump and his agenda. Trump denies supporting Project 2025, but Project 2025 has views that Trump supports (and it was created by at least 140 people who worked for Trump in the past. Trump talks about inflation but inflation is lower now than when he left office. Trump still doesn't have a replacement for the ACA. Ending ACA completely would strip coverage from 20 million Americans and put 130 million people with pre-existing conditions at risk of being charged more or denied coverage. Trump still believes in the myth that the 2020 election was stolen, and he lost more than 60 legal challenges to the 2020 election. Trump claims that crime is going up when violent crime is coming down in 2024. Trump falsely accused Pelosi of turning down an offer of 10,000 National Guard troops. Kamala Harris had shown confidence, gravitas of the issues, and she clearly won the debate. Kamala Harris said that Trump believes that the Ukrainian war will be over within 24 hours because he would just give it up. Kamala Harris was accurate in saying that Trump had coddled dictators and authoritarians like Putin, Xi, Orban, and other individuals. Trump refuses to answer if he wants Ukraine to win. After this debate, the Presidential campaign continues in the divided nation of America. The good news is we have a chance to vote Trump out of office and grow our democracy in 2025 and beyond.

I don't agree with the University of South Carolina allowing far right extremists to have an offensive "roast" of Vice President Kamala Harris.  First, the people involved in it are sexists, racists, and far-right extremists who don't care about dissent. They want to exploit politics to promote lies against Kamala Harris. Many of these far-right extremists are jealous of the intellect of a woman of color. The University of South Carolina claims that they defend the right of free speech, but they wouldn't dare allow Holocaust deniers to have a roast session. They wouldn't dare have pro-ISIS people to have a roast session on their campus. So, this is a double standard, and free speech doesn't mean that we take it. Free speech means that we show our disagreement with this sick event. Kamala Harris is used by the media to desire her to be perfect, but some in the media ignore Trump's false statements, his rambling statements, and his evil agenda. So, we must be on our purpose to support democracy.

Some shocking, sad news is that James Earl Jones passed away today at the age of 93 years old. He was an icon of acting who worked in theater, television, and movies for over seven decades. He was born in Arkabutia, Mississippi, and passed away in Pawling, New York. James Earl Jones worked in historic plays like August Wilson's Fences, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Othello, Coriolanus, and King Lear. He earned three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. He is known for his deep baritone voice. Jones loved to work in dramas, thrillers, science fiction, comedies, and other genres of acting. He worked in the Star Wars film series, Coming 2 America, and the Lion King (in 1994 and in 2019). He was a military veteran too. He loves his child unconditionally. Back in 1972, James Earl Jones starred in the film The Man playing the first black President of the United States of America. James Earl Jones stood on the work of Paul Robeson as both men wanted to show diverse, dignified roles on the movie screen. Blackness is diverse, and James Earl Jones showed black genius in enumerable ways.

By Timothy