‘Whatever she says she is… that’s up to her’: Trump ignorantly insulting Harris’ identity as a woman of color wasn’t even his worst debate blunder

As the dust settles on this week’s presidential debate, viewers are still scratching their heads about the many bizarre and inflammatory moments courtesy of Republican candidate Donald Trump. 

The ABC-hosted debate took place at the National Constitutional Centre in Philadelphia, and spawned multiple headline-grabbing moments throughout its 90-minute runtime. The duel was widely considered to be won by Kamala Harris, not least because her opponent often resorted to unrelated and conspiracy-laced rants in response to her consistent and masterful efforts to bait him. 

One of the biggest moments contributing to Trump’s failure arrived when he was questioned about the comments he made in July. During a now-infamous interview, the former president claimed that Harris — who is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian parents — had “made a turn” and “became a Black person.” 

That comment, which saw Trump question Harris’ race by saying she was “Indian all the way” before only recently claiming to be Black, was the subject of much criticism, and added to his broader, racially-motivated attack on Harris as a supposed DEI hire.

While Trump might’ve thought he’d gotten away with the comment, it reared its head again during the debate, when ABC moderator David Muir asked Trump why he thinks it’s appropriate to weigh in on Harris’ racial identity. 

It could have been a moment for Trump to backtrack on the comment or at least soften his position on it, but this is Trump after all, so what actually happened was precisely the opposite. “I don’t care,” Trump said in reference to how Harris identifies. “I couldn’t care less, whatever she wants to be is OK with me.” 

While that sounds as though Trump is permitting for Harris to identify as her own race (something he’s not at liberty to do), he went a step further, again repeating the claim that Harris had “put out” that she was not Black in the past, and that he “later read that she was Black.”

It’s worth noting that Harris has proudly identified as both Black and Indian throughout the course of her political life and that there is no evidence of her downplaying or distancing herself from either heritage. 

While that comment alone was enough for Trump to bury his own grave and seal his debate loss fate, he received the final nail in the coffin in the form of Harris’ response. Adopting the tone of a true victor, the vice president said it’s a “tragedy” that Trump “has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people.” 

She went on to bolster her response by citing Trump’s response to the Central Park Five case and his involvement in the Barack Obama birtherism conspiracy as further evidence of his poor record on race. It was one of multiple inflammatory blunders delivered by Trump, to the point where it’s difficult to isolate which was the biggest mistake. 

Perhaps the most salient issue was Trump’s consistent mentioning of his former opponent Joe Biden. Despite the fact that Biden is no longer in the race, transcripts of the debate found that Trump name-dropped the president 14 times, yet more evidence of his longing for a simpler time when the polls were in his favor.

One of these moments even included a mention of Hunter Biden, even though Harris has next to nothing to do with the president’s son. So plentiful were the mentions that Harris was compelled to remind Trump who exactly he was up against. “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden,” Harris replied in the tone and cadence of a kindergarten teacher, “and I am certainly not Donald Trump.”

While Biden was of course going to be mentioned in the debate, Trump’s ultra-focus on what will soon be the past presidency was emblematic of the exact message Harris was successfully pushing. “We’re not going back,” Harris said, “it’s time to turn the page.”

Setting aside even that blunder, one could argue that Trump’s biggest mistake occurred before the debate even began, when he stood idly while Harris offered a strong handshake. Or perhaps it was when he was promptly fact-checked about his claims of abortions after birth. 

Or when he circulated falsehoods about Haitian immigrants killing and eating pets in Ohio. Or when he took the bait after Harris’ quip about his rallies. Or when he was subject to either a stern glare or a dismissive laugh by Harris. I could go on, but deciding which of Trump’s debate blunders was the biggest is an exercise that’s as futile as asking him a simple question.