More than 150 Wichita State students packed into a second-floor room in the Rhatigan Student Center on the night of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’ presidential debate.
Attendees thumped their hands on tables as they loudly proclaimed their judgments, followed by determined hushes from attentive students attempting to mark up their debate bingo cards.
The most spirited in the crowd yelled at the screen as Former President Trump and Vice President Harris discussed a variety of issues, including abortion, immigration, the economy, the Israel-Hamas war and election security.
The event, organized collectively by the Shockers Vote! Coalition and the Department of Political Science with help from WSU Student Engagement, saw attendees from across the political spectrum.
Most viewers cheered for Harris, but a small contingent of students wearing “Make America Great Again” merchandise supported Trump.
While many students could be seen snapping, hollering, or simply gawking, a scattered few used this event to find their footing on the political spectrum.
Raziah Izard, an undecided voter, said that although “nobody’s really looking good,” Harris could have a chance at winning her over. Issues like women’s health are helping to push her in the direction of the left, while Trump still “isn’t super clear.”
Anthony Carranza, another unsure potential voter, said while he “doubts” any candidate will sway him enough to be confident, the candidate that touches on “issues of illegal immigrants” will significantly help inform his decision.
“I’m not leaning towards anyone tonight … I’m iffy on both of them really,” he said. “Maybe whoever impacts me in my personal life the most … whichever impacts my family the most.”
Reactions from Harris supporters
Calypso Huff, a self-described moderate who plans to vote for Harris, said prior to the debate that she was concerned Trump might restrict access to birth control and “cause just a lot more hatred and a lot more anger between people.”
After the event, Huff said she was more impressed with Harris on the substance of the debate, whereas Trump used “more strawman arguments” and dodged questions.
“Whenever 90% of his argument back was basically boiled down to a ‘Nuh uh, you said this,’ that doesn’t really help me understand why I should vote for him,” Huff said. “Whenever, even if I don’t agree with everything Harris said there, I at least know what she wants to do.”
Ainsley Altenbern, another Harris supporter sitting at a table with Huff, kept track of how many times the candidates dodged a question. According to their count, Trump didn’t answer six questions, whereas Harris dodged one.
“I think that, especially in regards to international questions, I think Harris handled it really well,” Altenbern said. “I think that a lot of the debate was spent by Trump talking about people flooding into the borders and information that was just … completely untrue. I don’t think it was a very good showing from Trump.”
Akosua Antwi-Agyei and Joselin Orozco were vocal during the debate, loudly cheering some Harris answers and mocking some from Trump.
Antwi-Agyei, a self-proclaimed “hottie for Harris,” said prior to the debate that she was concerned with the candidate’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war, but that Harris’ answers during the debate made her “feel at more peace” about her vote.
“I honestly just thought that she was going to reiterate how she feels about standing with Israel and their alliance,” Antwi-Agyei said. “So (it) actually did surprise me that she even brought them up and was like, you definitely want to, you know, bring them together and have something solved.”
Antwi-Agyei reiterated that she felt Harris provided more meaningful substance to the debate, while Trump “wanted to kind of shift the blame.”
“It seems like sometimes he just gets really riled up and angry, and he just again, shifts blame, talks bad about other people, as if it’s going to make him shine any brighter,” Antwi-Agyei said. “And I don’t appreciate that as a president; it seems like you don’t truly care for your people.”
Reactions from Trump supporters
Prior to the debate, MKeegan Hoeffner, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, was confident that Trump would outperform Harris.
“I think Trump has a lot of knowledge of debating and has a better understanding of how things work than Kamala Harris does, so I think it’s just going to be him shooting shots at her, like she’s a dog,” he said.
After the debate, Hoeffner took a slightly different tone.
“I’d say it’s pretty even split,” Hoeffner said. “I think Trump’s biggest issue is he exaggerated on a few things, and that, you know, caused people to rethink his credibility. But he has the proof.”
While prior to the event, Hoeffner said Harris “is too dumb to understand how to debate,” afterward, he said, “It was a little different than what I expected.”
“She knows how to say the right things, but she doesn’t know how to do the right thing,” he said.
Kendall Riley, another Trump supporter decked in a MAGA bucket hat, identified strongly with Trump, despite her political apathy for the upcoming election.
“I personally don’t like either of them,” she said.
Riley said she thought Harris “likes denying everything that she’s said,” but she wished Trump was “more adamant in women’s rights.”
Coming from a Republican background with a religious upbringing, Riley said that she is wary of issues such as the economy and abortion.
“I agree with Trump … I don’t think women should be getting abortions if they’re just spreading their legs open,” Riley said.
Caleb Nunn showed up midway through the debate riding a Trump scooter and wearing a “Never Surrender” shirt and a Trump-themed cape. He said during the debate that Trump was “crushing Kamala.”
“It’s a great both-sided debate, though,” Nunn said. “I think they both have good perspectives and point of views, but I respect everybody’s opinion.”
Live reactions
Many attendees cheered and laughed loudly during particularly contentious moments of the debate. Trump often earned cries of “preach” from his supporters, while those opposed to Trump frequently mocked and laughed at his answers.
Harris earned loud cheers from supporters, while the contingency of people wearing MAGA merch yelled “lies” and “nuh-uh” as she spoke. Most loud interruptions were followed by a chorus of shushing noises from all sides of the room.
The audience was most raucous during the segment of the debate where the candidates discussed abortion and reproductive rights.
When Trump claimed, falsely, that Harris’ vice-presidential pick Tim Walz supports “execution after birth” for babies, many in the crowd laughed and jeered. Later in the same answer, he said Kansas’ 2022 vote on abortion “was somewhat liberal, much more liberal than people would have thought,” which received a loud cheer.
When Harris pledged to “proudly sign … into law” a bill restoring Roe v. Wade’s abortion protections at the national level, attendees cheered again.
Immigration was another point of contention between the candidates. At one point, Trump claimed immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were “eating” pet dogs and cats, which led to one of the loudest laughs from the room of the night.
Harris supporter Charmaine Aggson brought up Trump’s immigration claims as a reason why she thought Harris performed better in the debate.
“That whole thing about the pets being eaten was a little weird,” Aggson said. “It got fact-checked right away.”
Later on, when Trump said the FBI was “defrauding statements” in crime data, Harris responded by saying Trump’s claim was “rich coming from someone who has been prosecuted.” This earned Harris one of her loudest cheers from attendees.
Trump’s loudest cheer of the night was when he responded to an interruption from Harris by saying “I’m talking now, if you don’t mind.” It was a reference to Harris’ 2020 vice presidential debate where she said a similar thing to former Vice President Mike Pence.
Harris elicited applause when she distanced herself from President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race in July to endorse Harris.
After Trump criticized Biden’s handling of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Harris replied, “You’re not running against Joe Biden, you’re running against me.”
Near the end of the debate, Harris said she “clearly” is not Joe Biden and offers “a new generation of leadership for our country.” Both statements led to cheers from her supporters in the room.
While organizers said they expected 30-40 people to show up to the event, student engagement stopped counting at around 150. Extra tables were put up in the back of the RSC 233 room, and even that wasn’t enough seating, as a spillover room was created to give more space.
The voter registration deadline for the 2024 general election is on Oct. 15. The next day, Oct. 16, is the first day for advance voting and voting by mail. Election day is on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
