BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Tuesday night, Kern County democratic voters felt that Vice President Kamala Harris put on a strong showing against former President Donald Trump during Tuesday night's debate.
- Kern County Democrats and Kamala Harris supporters held a watch party Tuesday night at the IBEW Local 428 Banquet Hall in Bakersfield to watch the only scheduled presidential debate as a group.
- Kern County District 5 Supervisor Leticia Perez noted that she felt an anxious tension in the room slowly release as the debate progressed, seeing the group begin to gain confidence in Harris as the debate wore on.
- Jill Egland said she felt that Harris' takes on global issues and how foreign powers view the United States were two of Harris' more poignant points of the night, while Sherrill Wall noted that Harris' style of debating and tending to the questions asked by the moderators was what Harris' did best.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Cheers, claps, and jeers were the theme of the night at the Democratic watch party for Tuesday night's debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, I'm Sam Hoyle your neighborhood reporter, here at the IBEW Local 428 Banquet Hall where tonight's democratic party was held, here's the reaction.
"I was nervous for the vice president. I didn't know how she would present herself on a stage with such a powerful person who's quite overwhelming. And I thought she was surprisingly strong."
Leticia Perez, Kern County Supervisor for District 5, said she could feel many Democrats and Harris supporters holding their breath to see how she would do debating Trump. From her perspective, she feels that many were able to breathe a sigh of relief heading into the thick of election season.
During the first commercial break of the debate, 23ABC spoke with two democratic voters Jill Egland and Sherrill Wall.
For Egland, Harris's take on global issues and how the vice president feels foreign powers view the US now were two poignant parts of the debate.
"I appreciated what she said about the world global issues, and how she talked about the leadership in other countries and how much respect they lost for us when Trump was the president, and I thought she made a very compelling argument for why he shouldn't be back in," said Egland.
The debate covered a variety of topics, spanning immigration, reproductive rights, the economy, and even touching on the war in Gaza. For Wall, the poignant part of Tuesday night's debate was Harris' style of debating.
"I think that she has stuck to the subject that she has answered the questions that have been posed to her. I think she has also been able to bait Donald Trump a little bit and provoke him into reacting in ways that she was hoping he would," said Wall.
As we move through a very busy election season, one date in particular will stand out to many, that being Tuesday, November 5th, election day. In Bakersfield, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter.
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