Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off in their first and only scheduled debate, highlighting stark differences with just eight weeks until the November 5 election. Harris put Trump on the defensive on issues like abortion, immigration, Israel-Gaza, race, and January 6. Trump continued to peddle false claims about the 2020 election and questioned Harris’s race while spreading inaccuracies about immigrants and diverse cities. Professor Carol Anderson explained Trump’s fearmongering as a tactic to divide white Americans from people of color, positioning himself as their “white savior.”
In the debate, Trump refused to acknowledge his electoral loss and continued to incite racial tensions. Harris emphasized the need for unity and criticized Trump’s history of using race to divide Americans. Trump’s portrayal of cities as crime-ridden and unsafe perpetuates racial stereotypes, fostering a culture of fear among white Americans. Despite crime rates being at historic lows, Trump’s rhetoric implies a crisis, linking crime with Blackness and immigration.
Anderson’s analysis underscores how Trump’s messaging stokes racial animosity and fear, seeking to position himself as the solution to an imaginary crisis. By highlighting these dynamics, the debate sheds light on the deep-rooted racial divisions in American politics, echoing historical patterns of racial fear and prejudice.