WASHINGTON (AP) — It was almost time for the presidential election, but Kamala Harris’s staff thought there was one more thing she needed to know. So less than an hour before the vice president left his Philadelphia hotel, two communications aides got him on the phone for one of the strangest briefings of his political career.
They told him that Donald Trump had posted a false and racist rumor on social media that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the conversation, they said.
The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, turned out to be correct.
Responding to a question about immigration policy, Trump said immigrants in Springfield “eat dogs” and “they eat cats.” Harris laughed, shook his head, and stared at his Republican defender in astonishment. “Talk about extreme,” he said, then continued.
It was easily the weirdest moment of last week’s debate, sparking an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now Harris is trying to use his performance as a continued source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the energy he generated when he replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the November 5 election. In a quick poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions about Trump remained unchanged, and Harris received only a small bump in the proportion of people who view him favorably. But his team is making the most of it, turning key points into television commercials and flooding the Internet with clips. There has been no similar effort on Trump’s part, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.
There will almost certainly not be another debate; Trump has said he won’t do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia may be the only chance voters have to see the candidates side by side.
This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how he prepared for and handled the debate. He met Trump in person for the first time.
Harris spent five days getting ready in a downtown Pittsburgh hotel after weeks of explosive campaigning.
His team recreated the sequence where he discussed Trump on the evening of September 10th. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier when he ran for the California Senate, when campaign staff taped cardboard boxes to serve. as temporary speakers.
Two communications assistants — one male, one female — stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, moderators of the ABC News talk.
Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprized his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, long red tie and orange bronzer to portray Trump.
One challenge would be microphones.
When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it wasn’t the candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the mics to always be hot, which would allow him to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.
But their campaign couldn’t reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained.
Harris decided to utilize a split-screen format where each candidate would always be in front of the camera. Biden had failed the visual test when he debated Trump in June, often looking aimless with his mouth open. Harris commented on the voiceless through his expressiveness – laughing, raising his eyebrows, raising his hand to his chin with a fierce expression.
At one point during the preparations, staff members suggested practicing the habits used by Harris. The Vice President waved them off, saying he could do without such an exercise.
Harris rarely left the hotel during preparations. On September 7, he made a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where he picked up spice mixes. A woman in the store cried as Harris hugged her. On Sept. 8, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, went to the Air Force Base and walked for about half an hour. For safety reasons, the asphalt was the only place they could stretch their legs.
Asked if he was ready for the debate, Harris gave reporters a thumbs up and said “ready.”
He ended up leaving Pittsburgh on September 9 instead of the day of the debate, canceling an extra mock debate and arriving in Philadelphia earlier than expected.
As the clock ticked to the start of the debate, dozens of employees from the campaign’s Delaware headquarters gathered in their assigned seats in front of four television screens. Some were nervous, still reeling from watching Biden collapse in his own conversation with Trump.
But Harris’ opening move, stepping toward Trump to shake his hand as they took the stage, helped ease the disruption.
Throughout the debate, Harris taunted and skewered Trump, knocking him off balance with crowd-sized knives at his campaign rallies. He raised questions about abortion and promised the country a new generation of leadership, while Trump grew increasingly agitated and missed opportunities to push the issue against him.
During the final commercial break, Trump left the stage with a sigh. Harris remained at his lectern, scribbling on his notepad, reviewing his words and taking a sip of water.
In his closing remarks, he told the audience that “I think you’ve heard two very different views of our country tonight – one that focuses on the future and one that focuses on the past.”
Trump ended his speech by calling Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”
There was no live audience in the space to react to the nominees, and it wasn’t always clear if certain lines or expressions hit the mark.
So when Harris left the stage, he had a question for his staff: How did I do?
