Kamala Harris Killed It. Then Taylor Swift Endorsed Her. Now I Think It’s Over.
Even Fox News couldn’t spin the truth: Trump lost the debate—badly.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris listens to former president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak during a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024.
(Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)I woke up Tuesday morning sick with dread.
There was a time when the idea of a debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and disgraced former president Donald Trump exhilarated me. In July, I was thrilled to hear her directly challenge Trump: “If you’ve got something to say, Donald, say it to my face”
But then I watched the Beltway media repeatedly lower the bar for Trump; by Monday night, I feared all he had to do to win was not use the n-word or the c-word. Maybe that’s extreme, but not by much: All he had to do was not be a snarling, racist, misogynist maniac. “Can Trump restrain himself?” was the top question in a New York Times preview.
Harris, meanwhile, had to introduce herself to the country and project policy chops; plus be likable (but not a needy approval-seeker); plus be aggressive, but not too aggressive (cue the Fox News dog-whistle signaling “Angry Black Woman!”).
During the first debate against Biden, the mentally disintegrating felon proved that he could compose himself, pundits droned. But Biden did so much damage to himself that Trump didn’t have to muss up his shellacked combover to win. Still, many said that’s all he had to do to beat Harris too. He could do it. You could almost hear them saying: He would do it.
By Game Day—because yes, mainstream political reporters mostly cover their beats like sports reporters—it felt like Trump couldn’t lose and Harris couldn’t win.
But he lost. Even Fox News admitted it.
“She was prepared. She kept her cool. She saw advantages and took them. She baited him successfully, which is the story of the debate in my view. So she came out ahead in this, in my opinion, no doubt.”
That was Fox’s Brit Hume.
At about this time, Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris. She wrote to her 283 million followers on Instagram, “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” The endorsement was paired with a photo of her holding her cat, Benjamin Button, and she signed it “Childless Cat Lady.”
I wanted Harris to win on her policy chops, and I thought she did throughout the debate. But the media mostly ignores her policy program, paying too much attention to the price of bacon and cereal.
But the acknowledgment from even right-wing cable news that Trump, acting like his normal self, flopped was something I didn’t imagine.
I’ll wake up feeling better Wednesday morning.
Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation
Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.
We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.
In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen.
Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering.
With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now.
While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account.
I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.
Onward,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and publisher, The Nation
