Who Won the Debate? A Sharp-Edged Harris Unbalances Trump.

Commentators, even Republicans, concluded that Kamala Harris had succeeded in provoking Donald Trump into veering off message.

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Former President Donald J. Trump after Tuesday’s debate in Philadelphia. Vice President Kamala Harris and Mr. Trump sparred in deeply personal terms, with Ms. Harris often succeeding in forcing Mr. Trump off message.

In the first, and perhaps only, presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump, the two candidates verbally sparred in often deeply personal terms, with policy arguments largely being overshadowed by fiery exchanges over character and crowd size.

Political pundits, analysts and commentators noted that Mr. Trump had often found himself on the defensive on issues such as abortion while allowing himself to be baited by Ms. Harris and veering off message. The vice president belittled the attendance at Mr. Trump’s rallies and suggested that American military leaders view him as a “disgrace,” while Mr. Trump often responded angrily, declaring that she had no policies of her own and was the “worst vice president in the history of our country.”

After the debate, many Democratic strategists and officials cheered Ms. Harris’s performance, while Republicans complained about the tenor of the questions from the moderators and acknowledged Mr. Trump’s missed opportunities to unleash focused attack lines.

Here is a sampling of the reaction.

“She was exquisitely well prepared, she laid traps, and he chased every rabbit down every hole instead of talking about the things that he should have been talking about. This is the difference between someone who is well prepared and someone who is unprepared,” former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican who led Mr. Trump’s 2016 transition team, said on ABC.

“Harris repeatedly baited him into going off topic or doubling down on his most unpopular positions. She cleared the bar in terms of telling her personal story, going deep enough on policy, but also showing she has the chops to go toe to toe with anyone,” said Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist and a former adviser to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

“I think that Kamala Harris exceeded the very low expectations that were purposely set for her,” Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur and former 2024 Republican presidential candidate, said on Fox News.

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