With the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris now concluded, it’s tempting to question its immediate impact on the presidential race. However, focusing solely on electoral consequences diminishes the significance of what unfolded. Harris achieved something unprecedented: she shattered Trump’s ego. report from The Washington Post.
Trump’s self-worth is deeply tied to his ability to dominate, control, and create a spectacle. Stripped of these, he becomes a shadow of himself—something that became evident as he visibly withered under Harris’s scrutiny. It’s likely he woke up the next morning despising his opponent as much as he loathes his own vulnerability.
Throughout the debate, Harris took control of the man often deemed uncontrollable. She tamed and neutralized him, turning his own insults back on him while addressing the American public with appeals to democracy, decency, and the rule of law. She called him weak, confused, boring, and even suggested he was old. Perhaps most painful for Trump, she appeared to pity him.
Had this been a title match, Harris would have been the challenger who finally saw the cracks in Trump’s armor. She delivered a knockout punch, shaming a man who is famously beyond shame. Even if Harris doesn’t win the election, Trump’s humiliation is unlikely to be something from which he can recover. For someone who has built his identity around a strongman image, this defeat cuts deep—both politically and psychologically. told by CNN.
As Harris delivered blow after blow, Trump’s reactions were telling. No one—especially no woman, let alone a woman of color—has ever spoken to him that way on national television. As he raged, desperately grasping for something to counter her, it became clear that Harris had struck a nerve.
Harris wasn’t the first to identify Trump’s fragile ego, but she was the first to exploit it on such a public stage. Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger once described Trump as “a weak man pretending to be strong,” a sentiment echoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom who, before the debate, called Trump “thin-skinned” and “fragile.”
During one pivotal moment, Harris addressed the 2020 election and Trump’s failed attempt to overturn it, saying, “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. He’s clearly having a hard time processing that. We cannot afford a president who tries to upend the will of the voters and a free and fair election.” She continued by highlighting Trump’s lack of the temperament required for democratic leadership, driving her point home with facts that left Trump visibly unsettled.
Hillary Clinton once said that Trump could be easily baited, a skill Harris wielded expertly. By the end of the debate, Harris seemed to express a kind of pity for Trump—like an old man who had finally lost his way.
While it will take time for the debate’s effects to be seen in the polls, the immediate takeaway is clear: Kamala Harris has achieved the impossible by publicly shaming a man who has long appeared immune to it. This moment marks a significant blow to Trump’s carefully crafted image, and it’s one he may never fully overcome.
