State of Democra-Z: How Trump-Harris debate performance landed with 3 young voters

NINA MOINI: This is Minnesota Now. I'm Nina Moini for Cathy Wurzer. The television ratings for last night's presidential debate have not been released yet. But it was shortly after the last debate that president Joe Biden left the race. Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have had just a few months to campaign against one another.

All that raised the stakes when Harris and Trump met for 90 minutes on stage. Among those following this debate are three of our state of democra-z, like Generation Z, panelists. And we wanted to check in with them about what they heard. Corey Halada is a senior at Saint Olaf College in Northfield. Addy Rahm is a junior at Saint Olaf. And Corey Stockert is a senior at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. Thank you all for being here.

CORI STOCKARD: Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: Well, I'll start with you, Corey Stockert. You're our Democrat voice here with our panel. How are you feeling about Kamala Harris's performance in the debate?

CORI STOCKARD: I feel really good. I think people often understate how difficult being in a debate with Donald Trump is. Like, it's, I imagine, a unique experience. But I think Kamala handled it really well, with regards to not letting him continue on with the, you know, blatant falsehoods, but also actually stating her vision for America. That's something she, I think, she focused very well on, on having a sort of optimistic vision for America.

NINA MOINI: And Corey Halada, you're a Republican voice on the panel here. Do you think Trump was effective last night, Donald Trump?

CORY HALLADA: I would say not so much, at least not to the extent that I was hoping from him. I was disappointed in his performance. I do not think he had a great night. There were a lot of moments where I think he maybe went too far with things. Yeah, it wasn't a great night for him.

NINA MOINI: Was that something for you then, Corey H, that would change your mind? Or how did that resonate with you, that you felt like he had a bad night?

CORY HALLADA: I wouldn't say it changed my mind. I think I had kind of already made my mind up before the debate. But I could see it having an effect on people that aren't so sure.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, so these debates, as we all know, aren't likely to change a lot of minds. You'll see, both Corey's here, your opinions have not changed. Addy, though, you identify as conservative. It's been a minute since we've had you on the show. And this election has been really a winding road for you. You started as a Nikki Haley supporter. Where were you leaning before the debate? And what was your takeaway? Because that seems to be the hope of these debates, is to really try to get anybody who might still be on the fence to pick a side. Did that happen for you?

ADDY RAHM: Right now, my vote is still undecided. But last night's debate definitely made me see just the visions of both candidates. And Trump's focus on just how awful America is and the lack of patriotism really disappointed me. I was hoping for a more American idealism message. And Kamala really hit that for me. I thought that Kamala did a very good job in being positive and keeping the focus on the future and her vision for America, instead of what went wrong in the past.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and what was your sense for former President Trump?

ADDY RAHM: Trump disappointed me on balance. I thought that he did not conduct himself in a very professional or distinguished manner. And I think I was really reminded of just the chaos that comes with Donald Trump. And with Biden running instead of Kamala, Trump really was content to just sit back and let Biden's age show. But now that he has an actual candidate against him, he's, I think, really struggling to get his mind around the fact that he might not win this election.

NINA MOINI: And one of the major topics last night and throughout this entire election has been the economy. The candidates talked about their economic visions sort of right out of the gate. And Harris touted a plan for small businesses and expanding the child tax credit. Trump defended his plan to impose tariffs on imported products. Did you feel like they were talking about the kitchen table issues? And, you know, we talk about how people perceive the economy right now. How did that strike you? Let's ask Corey Halada.

CORY HALLADA: I do think they were, actually, doing a pretty good job of talking about issues people care about economically. They focused a lot about kind of the effects that it would have on the middle class. Trump's tariffs was a big example of that. I thought that he did an OK job defending his position. But I do think Kamala also did a good job of making her appeal. And while I don't agree with her on many things, I thought she did a good job articulating her economic policy in a way that sounded appealing.

NINA MOINI: OK, another big topic throughout this entire election and last night was reproductive rights, a key issue. Trump wouldn't say whether he would veto a nationwide ban on abortion. Harris said she would work to secure federal abortion access. Addy, I'll ask you, as someone on the fence. What did you think of how the candidates discussed this issue in particular?

ADDY RAHM: I thought that discussion of this issue was one of the better discussions in the debate. I thought, while you have to kind of piece through Trump's rambling to get to a point, I think he's overall correct about Roe. And the reason it was overturned is, a lot of legal scholars did want to return women's rights back to the states to be voted on.

I think that he did not articulate it in the best way possible. And I think Kamala really played on stories and on experiences of people perhaps she'd met, or stories in the general public. And I thought that that was not effective as Donald Trump's rhetoric on the legal decisions and the experts that made up their minds, eventually, on Roe.

NINA MOINI: OK, let's talk about another key issue in the debate last night, immigration. And Corey S, I'll kick this to you. Donald Trump has said that he would implement large scale deportations of immigrants. Kamala Harris advocated for a crackdown on illegal trafficking and cited an immigration bill that lost Republican support earlier this year in Congress and blamed Donald Trump for that. What did you think of both of their stances on immigration?

CORI STOCKARD: So a thing that really stuck out to me, and I'm going to continue to think about after this debate, is Donald Trump sort of repeating an already sort of pre-debunked claim about immigrants eating pets, which is simultaneously hilarious and, like, a horrifying thing for the former president and perhaps future president of the United States to do, for him to sort of spread what is essentially a blood, libel myth about a group of people.

Like, that was, I think, completely terrifying to me. So I think the, what I'm thinking about with respect to Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on immigration is, it's a sort of litmus test for where Americans are feeling about this. Is the frustration about immigration so high that people will side with Trump, even though he repeats falsehoods about immigration? Or are they sort of willing to give America a further chance as being fundamentally a nation of immigrants? I think this is a true test of that.

NINA MOINI: Corey H, several Republicans criticized the moderators after the debate, saying they were unfair to former President Trump in their fact-checking. What did you think of how they handled fact-checking live in that situation? And what did you think of the moderators overall?

CORY HALLADA: Yeah, I don't think that the moderators were particularly fair to him. I do think that there were many examples of Trump saying things that were not true. But I think the problem with live fact-checking is that it did really come off as bias in this case. And it's hard to not have that happen in a debate. There were claims that Kamala Harris made that were false, that did not get fact-checked. And at times, it did feel like Trump was debating the moderators, which I was not a big fan of.

NINA MOINI: Addy, as an undecided voter, what was your feeling for how the debate was conducted?

ADDY RAHM: I think that the debate would have benefited from people in the room. I thought that it was a very, kind of a sad thing to watch, just two people yelling at each other with the moderators attempting to control it. I think that the room could have used some more life. And then, cutting to the spin room and seeing all the people wandering around and talking, I thought that the debate missed a certain type of energy that only people could bring.

But I did think that the moderators were slightly unfair to Trump. And that might just be because of Trump's personality and his combative nature. But there was a lot of difficult questions to Trump. And I feel like Kamala got some more softball questions. But overall, I think the demeanor in which Trump handled those questions tells a lot about who he is and how he would conduct himself as president.

NINA MOINI: And Corey S, I'll just ask you, since I asked the others, the moderators aren't the most important part of a debate. And everybody tends to have a different perception of how they did. So I'm curious what you thought.

CORI STOCKARD: For me, the thing that was sort of noticeable is that Trump spoke for around five minutes total more than Kamala did, which I'm not saying is the fault of the moderators or whatever. But it was something that might not seem like a lot. But out of a 90 minute debate, it's 5% more. Personally, for me, I think I'm weird in this fact.

But I would prefer the debates to have a lot more speaking time for each candidate. I don't think there should ever be a situation in which someone who has a very real chance of being the President of the United States is pressed for time, explaining their position to the American public. They should really have more time than is necessary to explain their vision for America.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and they might debate again. We're not sure. And there were a lot of discussions about what some of the optics and decisions around mics and things would be. So that'll be interesting, to see if there's another debate. Addy, as we look forward to the next 50-ish days, what would you need to hear from the candidates that could really sway you? What do you feel like you're waiting for? Or are you not sure?

ADDY RAHM: You know, I was just talking about this with a friend this morning. And she asked me, what would make you switch your vote to Kamala? And I don't know if Kamala could do anything to necessarily secure my vote. But Trump could do something to lose it. And Kamala could do something to lose it. I basically know their policy points.

And I think a lot of independents know their policy points. I think what I'm looking for at this point is decorum and if Kamala is going to answer more questions, if she's going to do more interviews, how the vice presidential debate is going to go. And so, I'm looking at a certain holistic view. And I'm really hoping to see demeanors, especially.

NINA MOINI: A lot of people are talking about the big endorsement, of course, from last night that came right after the debate, Taylor Swift announcing online that she would be endorsing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Addy, does that make a difference to you? Do you think that makes a difference to younger voters, in particular, or her fan base?

ADDY RAHM: I mean, I'm a huge Swiftie. I love Taylor's music. I will say that her endorsement doesn't really do anything politically for me. Like any celebrity, she has the right and has a huge fan base. And so it makes sense for her to endorse someone. And she's been very involved in politics in the past. But just like anyone else, she is a person with her own opinions. And so, I don't think that her opinions fall above her fans' opinions in the sense of politics. And so her endorsement here, I don't think, sways me either way. But it's always good to see another Taylor post on Instagram.

NINA MOINI: And she did encourage everybody to do their own research and to empower people to do that, which everybody should be doing. Thank you all so much. And thank you for giving us your time. And we'll look forward to catching up with you again in the next 50-ish days that we have left of this election cycle.

CORY HALLADA: Thanks for having me. Thank you.

ADDY RAHM: Yeah, thank you.

NINA MOINI: Thank you all. Cori Stockard is a senior at the University of Minnesota. Addy Rahm is a junior at Saint Olaf College in Northfield. And Cory Hallada is a senior at Saint Olaf as well.

[MUSIC PLAYING]