Trump vs Harris Debate Shocker: "They're Eating the Pets!// Tina Fordham on Bloomberg

Ina great to see you uh we'll get to all the memes in just a second but let's start off with the substance the meat of what we were supposed to get here how much do we really learn about either one of these candidates Harris or Trump well judging by the uh pre-debate expectations the burden was on kamla Harris to introduce herself um we've had Donald Trump as president and the vice presidency is is more of a backseat kind of a role so American voters um were Keen to to get a sense of who she was um it wasn't huge detail on policy um which you wouldn't expect to see in a format like this but there were so many elements um where the the candidates personalities were communicated I mean what you just showed with Harris know striding over forcefully to shake hands with Trump when there was so much discussion would they shake hands and hadn't been a prebate handshake in something like eight years um all of these elements start to lay the groundwork uh for what we saw unfold before us which I think took a lot of people by surprise I I am curious as to whether this ends up swaying uh voters in any meaningful way I mean you kind of mentioned that obviously uh Trump himself is definitely a known quantity uh we talk about the record viewership that we're uh starting to find out uh that we had last last night on this but we're only you know what 55 days away from the election I mean this debate or at least the first debate that we got between these two particular people is coming kind of late in the cycle it's late in the cycle 55 days as you said um in European elections This Is Not Unusual we had elections in the UK and France over the summer that took place within a few week weeks time which was kind of merciful by comparison we Envy you guys over there trust us well I mean um you you should pity me because I was up at 2 o'clock in the morning watching it watching it on on London time and and kind of parsing views on on on both sides of the Atlantic and also of course how this looked in Beijing uh in Abu Dhabi uh in Johannesburg right around the world we have Trump talking about people eating pets um and Harris kind of honing in on exactly how many Polish American voters in the state of Pennsylvania might be troubled by Trump's position on Ukraine that was a remarkable contrast yeah that's a really good point I want to go there to foreign policy because uh the former president made a couple of comments there saying he only wants uh Russia's war in Ukraine to end but clearly not specifying which side and also setting citing Victor orban's support as a key Ally what's the message that sends to our allies in Europe and Asia fear Victor Orban the prime minister of Hungary um is in the dogghouse to use the technical political science term with the European Union uh has been picking fights and violating norms and uh conventions as as well as uh agreements for some time and so to site him as a a source of support to convey his Global stature is a surprise to Europeans and again the international impression here is how can it be that so many US voters take Trump seriously you know we didn't hear about the kinds of things that people on the street are focused on corporate tax rates uh position on cryptocurrency and and these kinds of things but we had this kind of unplugged Trump and the spectacle of Harris who again you know isn't as well known but I'm from the state of California from the Bay Area she's a fierce prosecutor and we saw that on display uh she blew a lot of people away does it move the numbers yeah that is very hard to say but it has given the campaign a boost it's given fundraising a boost it means they're getting more volunteers and most of all in my view motivating the the Democrats who are a a you know majority in numerical terms to vote yeah might actually be more meaningful than persuading Independents who normally break Republican anyway so Tina how does this debate ultimately shape your expectations for what the postelection uncertainty will look like I mean we're not going to get an answer immediately right on that Tuesday evening um and if we don't get a clear outcome for days like in the last cycle do you expect it to look more like 20 20 or 2,000 before we go there I want to to to make a point about my my fellow political analysts and and they are mainly fellows they love calling this election over and over again for Trump and keep getting hammered by changes in the race it's sort of like the way economists are you know affectionately described as calling 13 of the last 10 recessions political analysts keep calling it for Trump over and over again then having to digest news I'm not calling it for Harris I am saying that the reality of the way the data play out here is you know you you mentioned uh comparisons in 2016 Hillary Clinton was four points ahead at exactly this point on 911 at the commemoration ceremonies which we remember she wasn't feeling very well then the Comey report came out so that was the October surprise and Trump goes on to win we've really got to be prepared for more swings and roundabouts right and then as you say the uncertainty around you know when we wake up on November 6th I don't think there's going to be a clear or agreed answer Tina forom uh just preparing us mentally for the surprises that are to come in the days and weeks thank you so much Tina is Gen geopolitical strategist and founder at forom global foresite