By Jordyn Britton
Howard University News Service

Vice President Kamala Harris was declared the winner against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday in their first presidential debate — one of the most anticipated events of this year’s election cycle.

Pundits, polls and leading news organizations such as the New York Times came out in favor of Harris. A CNN flash poll conducted immediately after the debate reported that 63% of registered voters felt that Harris was the clear victor.

The debate, hosted on ABC and aired on all major networks, reached a viewership of about 57 million people. It didn’t break any records, but it vastly exceeded the 51.3 million viewers from the last aired debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.

Harris’ performance in Pennsylvania continues to be praised. Meanwhile, the press surrounding Trump following his showing last night has persistently been rooted in scrutiny and is serving as vindication for all Harris-Walz supporters who believe the former president is incompetent to hold office for another four years.

Harris repeatedly stated throughout the debate, “Donald Trump has no plan for you.”

This is the statement that followed what some described as Trump’s consistently incoherent and inflammatory responses to the ABC moderators’ inquiries on the economy, women’s rights, race, politics in America and every other topic discussed during the debate.

Throughout the event, Trump’s answers were vague and nonfactual at best, referring to political policies put in place by the Biden-Harris administration as “insane” and even going as far as to say they support abortion at and beyond the 9-month gestational period for a fetus.

“Under Roe v. Wade, you could do abortions in the seventh month, eighth month, the ninth month and probably after birth,” Trump claimed.

Debate moderators swiftly fact-checked throughout the event, debunking and clarifying issues in real time for participants and viewers.

“There is no state where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born,” debate moderator Linsey Davis clarified before moving on to get the vice president’s opinions.

During a watch party sponsored by Speechwriters of Color at the National Press Club, an appointee in the Biden-Harris administration felt energized by Harris’ showing at the first presidential debate and her plan for the country. “As a young professional here in D.C., there was a lot of pessimism regarding Biden’s potential chances of winning here in 2024,” said the appointee, who requested to remain anonymous. “It is a concern that a lot of people had within my inner circle as young professionals within the administration.

“However, I believe Kamala Harris definitely offers a more energetic and invigorating view for the country, and overall, I think the debate went really well, and we’re excited to see what happens come November.”

The Speechwriters of Color, founded by Howard University alumnus Michael Franklin, drew local and traveling professionals across all fields, including visitors in town to attend the Congressional Black Caucus annual legislative weekend at the Washington convention center.

Preston Mitchum, the chief executive officer of PDM Consulting LLC and a reality television star on the Bravo original series “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard,” spent time at the event digesting and reacting to the debate along with the other young professionals. He considered the watch party a great opportunity for many attendees.

“It’s really heartbreaking watching people who are so diametrically opposed speaking next to each other for the president of the United States,” Mitchum said.

He added that he hoped “speechwriters here are listening to how they’re framing these questions, how they’re framing these answers because this is truly how we know who’s serious and who’s not serious and who will be the leader of the free world.”

Trump supporters, while not in attendance at the watch party, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to shame ABC as a network, inferring that the debate moderators were biased against the former president and calling it a 3-to-1 debate.

The former president spoke to reporters afterward, repeatedly saying he felt it was his “best debate” and claiming he won “every one of the polls” reported immediately after the discussion.

Jordyn Britton is a reporter for HUNewsService.com. This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org