WASHINGTON (AP) — To many Democrats, Kamala Harris was everything Joe Biden was not in confronting Donald Trump on the debate stage: forceful, fleet of foot, relentless in going after her opponent.
In a pivot from Biden's debate meltdown in June, Democrats who gathered in bars, watch parties and other venues Tuesday night found lots to cheer in her drive to rattle the Republican.
Click to Gallery
WASHINGTON (AP) — To many Democrats, Kamala Harris was everything Joe Biden was not in confronting Donald Trump on the debate stage: forceful, fleet of foot, relentless in going after her opponent.
Attendees cheer and laugh as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump mentions Seattle during a debate against Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a watch party at Massive, a queer nightclub, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Teacher Elmire Desrouleaux, of North Miami, center, reacts during a presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a watch party organized by Democrats from Miami's Haitian-American community, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at Randy's Restaurant & Lounge in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Aztec theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Charles Hudson, 76, from Chicago watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Knotty Luxe Bistro Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Markham, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Karen Sellinger reacts to a comment by former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at the Gipsy Las Vegas in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Aztec theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
UC Berkeley students watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Ikenna Amilo, center, reacts to a comment by Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Tristan McPherson watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Muncie, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
San Francisco Republican party members watch a presidential debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Mad Dog In The Fog on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada)
Vote buttons are displayed during a presidential debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Muncie, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Monica Alvarez, second from left, joins other viewers gathered to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A pedestrian stops to watch a television across the street at Alley Cat showing the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Sheena Carey laughs as she watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Viewers cheer as they watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Kels Ferguson, right, supporting Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, reacts during the presidential debate between Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at Alley Cat in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a watch party as second gentleman Doug Emhoff, on stage at right, listens at Cherry Street Pier after the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supporters listen as Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a watch party at Cherry Street Pier after the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
An asylum-seeking migrant from Haiti who did not give her name out of fear, helps clean in the kitchen as the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays on a television Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
An asylum-seeking migrant from Michoacan, Mexico, walks back to the tent she shares with her family as the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays on a television Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Rakan al Muhana, 40, an asylum-seeker from Gaza, left, gestures as the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays on a television Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chris Covert, front right, from Leawood, Kan., watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Chris Covert, front right, from Leawood, Kan., watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
In a race for the White House that surveys say is exceptionally close, with both sides looking for an edge, it was the Democrats who came away more exuberant after the nationally televised debate.
“She prosecuted Donald Trump tonight,” said Alina Taylor, 51, a high school special education teacher who joined hundreds of people on a football field of the historically Black Salem Baptist Church of Abington in a suburb of Philadelphia, where people watched on a 33-foot (10 meter) screen.
As for Trump, she said, “I was appalled" by his performance. “People were laughing at him because he wasn’t making very much sense.”
In Seattle, people gathered at Massive, a queer nightclub where scores watched the debate on a projector set up in front of the club’s large disco ball. The crowd laughed and cheered when Trump branded Harris a Marxist. More cheers when the debate moderator called out Trump's false claim that some states legalize the killing of babies after birth.
“He's getting smoked,” one said.
But in Brentwood, Tennessee, Sarah Frances Morris heard nothing at her watch party to shake her support of Trump.
“I think he beat her on the border," she said. “I think he also beat her on actually having plans and letting the American people know what those are. And I think that Kamala Harris likes to mention that she has plans for things, but she doesn’t actually ever elaborate on what those plans are.”
Morris conceded she was watching history being made, “because we have our first Black woman running for president.” But, she added, “I don’t think she delivered to get her to that place she needed to be.”
Harris supporter Dushant Puri, 19, a UC Berkeley student, said the vice president took command before the first words were spoken — when she crossed the stage to shake Trump's hand. “I thought that was pretty significant,” Puri said. "It was their first interaction, and I thought Harris was asserting herself.”
At the same watch party, fellow student Angel Aldaco, 21, said that, unlike Biden, Harris “came in with a plan and was more concise.”
Aldaco was struck by one of the night's oddest moments, when Trump “went on that rampage about eating pets.” That's when Trump endorsed a baseless conspiracy theory that immigrants were stealing and eating people’s dogs and cats. Harris was incredulous. “That was good,” the student said.
It's questionable how much viewers learned about what Harris would do as president or whether she won over independents or wavering Republicans. But for some Democrats, despondent if not panicked after Biden's fumbling debate performance, it was enough to see a Democratic candidate getting seriously under Trump's skin.
“He is pretty incapable when he is riled up,” said Ikenna Amilo, an accountant at a Democratic watch party in a small concert venue in downtown Portland, Maine.
“When you poke him, he is really reactive and he doesn’t show the temperament you want in a president, so I think Kamala has shown she’s doing a good job."
Annetta Clark, 50, a Harris supporter from Vallejo, California, watched at a party hosted by the Oakland Bay Area chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. To her, the second presidential debate was a mighty relief from the one in June.
“I couldn’t stomach the first one, if I’m being honest,” Clark said. “I tried to watch it and it was a little too much. This one I was able to enjoy.” On Trump’s performance: “It was almost like talking to a child with him.” Harris? “Fabulous job.”
Democrat Natasha Salas, 63, of Highland, Indiana, saw the debate from an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority watch party at a bistro in Markham, Illinois, and welcomed Harris' call to cool the political temperature — even as the vice president denounced Trump at every turn.
“We all want the same things, Democrats and Republicans," Salas said. "We are more alike than different. I want to see the country move forward and less divisiveness.”
Interest in the debate transcended national borders. From a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, where dozens watched a translated version of the debates on a television, Rakan al Muhana, 40, an asylum-seeker from Gaza, became animated when the candidates discussed Israel and Palestine.
“We are running from the war," he said. "We are running from the Israeli bombs. He (Trump) doesn’t see us as human. My daughter, who is four months — for him, she’s a terrorist.”
Al Muhana has been on a four-month journey from Gaza to this border city, with his wife and four children. They left when both his mother and father were killed in a bombing.
Associated Press journalists Michael Rubinkam in Philadelphia; George Walker in Nashville; Robert Bukaty in Portland, Maine; Lindsey Wasson in Seattle; Godofredo Vasquez in Berkeley, California; and Gregory Bull in Tijuana, Mexico, contributed to this report.
An asylum-seeking migrant from Michoacan, Mexico, walks back to the tent she shares with her family as the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays on a television Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Attendees cheer and laugh as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump mentions Seattle during a debate against Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a watch party at Massive, a queer nightclub, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Teacher Elmire Desrouleaux, of North Miami, center, reacts during a presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a watch party organized by Democrats from Miami's Haitian-American community, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at Randy's Restaurant & Lounge in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Aztec theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Charles Hudson, 76, from Chicago watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Knotty Luxe Bistro Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Markham, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Karen Sellinger reacts to a comment by former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at the Gipsy Las Vegas in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Aztec theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
UC Berkeley students watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Ikenna Amilo, center, reacts to a comment by Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Tristan McPherson watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Muncie, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
San Francisco Republican party members watch a presidential debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Mad Dog In The Fog on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada)
Vote buttons are displayed during a presidential debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Muncie, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Monica Alvarez, second from left, joins other viewers gathered to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A pedestrian stops to watch a television across the street at Alley Cat showing the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Sheena Carey laughs as she watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Viewers cheer as they watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Kels Ferguson, right, supporting Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, reacts during the presidential debate between Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at Alley Cat in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a watch party as second gentleman Doug Emhoff, on stage at right, listens at Cherry Street Pier after the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supporters listen as Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a watch party at Cherry Street Pier after the presidential debate in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
An asylum-seeking migrant from Haiti who did not give her name out of fear, helps clean in the kitchen as the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays on a television Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
An asylum-seeking migrant from Michoacan, Mexico, walks back to the tent she shares with her family as the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays on a television Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Rakan al Muhana, 40, an asylum-seeker from Gaza, left, gestures as the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris plays on a television Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Chris Covert, front right, from Leawood, Kan., watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
People watch the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Chris Covert, front right, from Leawood, Kan., watches the presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a 97-year-old movie theater Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
