US Presidential Election Top 10: Is Donald Trump done as an orator?

Hello and welcome to the US Presidential Election Top 10 , your handy guide to what matters (or doesn’t) ahead of an election that all pundits say remains too close to call.

One thing became largely apparent during the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump : the Don is past his oratorical prime. Unlike Donald Bradman’s final innings, Trump didn’t get out on a duck, but it was one of his worst performances.
There was exactly one moment of vintage Trump during the debate, when he described his exchange with the “head of the Taliban”, most likely referring to Abdul Ghani Baradar , one of the Taliban’s negotiators with the US.

He said: “I told Abdul, don’t do it anymore. If you do it again, you’re going to have problems. And he said, why did you send me a picture of my house? I said, you’re going to have to figure that out, Abdul. And for 18 months, nobody was killed.” It was reminiscent of when he announced that ISIS chief “Abu Baker Al Bag Daddy” was dead.

Vintage Trump - "why did you send me a picture of my house".
Even Kamala had to try hard to suppress her smile. pic.twitter.com/qQtJ4zp72c

— Sai (@Saiarav) September 11, 2024

Read: Donald Trump’s Greatest Hits

It became apparent to all viewers – whether MAGA supporters or members of the K-Hive – that the Donald Trump of old was gone, as the verve and vivacity that once made Trump such an avant-garde speaker with his stream-of-consciousness style were missing. Perhaps this is why he avoided the Republican primaries, where Vivek Ramaswamy stood out as his surrogate and attack dog. Before the Harris debate, Trump claimed: “Donald Trump is probably the greatest political debater we’ve ever had in American history.” Reality begged to differ.

Here are 10 stories to keep track of the US Presidential Election 2024:

Biden goes MAGA: President Joe Biden (remember him) put on a Trump hat as show of solidarity on 9/11. The Trump War Room said this.

‘Good Job’: It’s easy to forget that Donald Trump has a human side. The last time we glimpsed it was in his cameo in Home Alone 2, but we saw a hint of it at the Ground Zero memorial, when Trump congratulated Harris on a ‘good job’.

No Curry with MAGA: Imagine telling a joke so racist that even the MAGA crowd says: “Bro.” Laura Loomer found out the hard way that her “curry in the White House” joke was too offensive, even for fellow MAGA traveller and noted anti-Semite Marjorie Taylor-Greene.

Who won the debate? Pollsters say Harris won the debate comfortably but ask people to exercise caution before jumping to conclusions.

Swift Effect: Can Taylor Swift swing a presidential election? We’ll leave that to the experts, but since Swift endorsed Harris, her Instagram post has garnered over 9 million likes and led to over 330,000 visits to the Voter Registration website.

Sororal Love: MAGA supporters are still outraged about the debate, with some pointing out that one of the ABC co-anchors is a sorority sister of Kamala Harris, which they claim is irrefutable proof that Trump was cheated.

Meme Watch: “This debate was so bad, Nancy Pelosi is quietly working the phones to get Trump out of the race,” said Florida Congressman Moskowitz. Here are a few more reactions.

Springfield: Trump has always shown a Bart Simpson-like knack for avoiding the consequences of his actions. No wonder Springfield started trending after the debate.

Daughter’s Disgust: Even Elon Musk’s daughter couldn’t cope after seeing her father’s tweet about Taylor Swift and his offer to “give” her a child. It’s hard to blame her.

A Blast from the Past: Legend has it that America would be very different today if Barack Obama hadn’t mocked Donald Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Either way, Obama was in fine form in his alt-comedy persona that day. Take a walk down memory lane.

BONUS: The mash-up you need and deserve