Kamala Harris ran away from the disastrous Biden/Harris national security record during last night’s debate.
Our nation's vice president claimed their record was successful, blamed President Donald Trump for foreign policy setbacks since 2021, and gave little indication of what she would do to promote U.S. national security interests as president.
Harris also ignored Trump’s harsh criticisms of national security, with no pushback from the debate moderators.
The Biden/Harris administration’s refusal to secure the U.S. southern border was the national security issue receiving the most attention during the debate.
Our nation’s 45th commander in chief said Team Biden's border policies are destroying our country and doing so by allowing millions of illegal migrants to cross into the United States.
Mr. Trump said many of these illegal migrants are criminals and have taken over American towns and buildings.
Trump noted that the border was secure during his presidency, and the current border crisis resulted from Biden reversing his border security policies.
Harris tried to blame the border crisis on Trump because he opposed a controversial February 2024 border bill and said illegal border crossings dropped significantly after President Biden implemented stricter measures in July 2024.
The debate moderators did not ask Harris about Trump’s charges or about how Biden rolled back Trump’s tough border security policies on his first day in office.
However, ABC's David Muir did push back against Trump with the misleading statement that FBI says overall violent crime is coming down.
Trump countered this "fact check" by disputing the FBI’s claim as a fraud, because it did not include U.S. cities with the worst crime.
Harris completely avoided taking responsibility for the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, even though she claimed she was "the last person in the room" when Biden decided to withdraw.
Harris repeated a recent Harris/Biden administration (company line) claim that this disaster was Trump’s fault because of a withdrawal agreement the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban.
Trump strongly criticized Harris over the Afghanistan withdrawal, declaring that this disaster hurt America’s reputation on the global stage, leading Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.
He noted that his withdrawal plan with the Taliban was conditions-based and had nothing to do with the withdrawal ordered by Biden.
Trump also noted that the Biden/Harris administration’s abrupt and disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan left behind $85 billion in U.S. military equipment.
On Ukraine, Harris took credit for helping defend Ukraine, as well as keeping NATO together, through meetings she held in Europe days before Russia invaded in February 2022.
Harris claimed that the Biden/Harris administration rallied U.S. allies to support Ukraine and said this is why Ukraine is still an independent and free country.
Harris claimed that if Trump were reelected, he would hand Ukraine to Russia, and Russian troops would be positioned to invade Poland and other European countries.
Harris also added the usual liberal barb (another company line) that Trump likes dictators.
She did not say anything about her strategy to end the war in Ukraine.
Our nation's 45th president was clear that the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted from Biden’s weakness and would not have happened if he were president.
Why?
Because foreign leaders respect him, but they don’t respect Biden.
Trump said he wants to end the war in Ukraine, and that he plans to settle the conflict before he takes office in January 2025.
Trump also noted that Harris’s meetings in Europe to stop the war days before Russia invaded Ukraine were a failure.
On the Mideast, Harris condemned the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist massacre and said she would "always give Israel the ability to defend itself."
But she added, too many Palestinians have died in the Israel-Hamas War.
She also called for a cease-fire, the release of hostages held by Hamas, a peace agreement based on a two-state solution, and the Palestinians’ need for security and self-determination.
Yet our current vice president didn't explain how, as president, she would bring these agreements to fruition, nor did she comment on Israel’s concerns about the security risks of creating a separate Palestinian state.
Mr. Trump responded to that deafening silence by charging that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack was a result of the Biden/Harris administration’s weakness, that it would not have occurred if he had been president.
Trump said he will end the Israel-Hamas War.
He said Iran’s revenues have surged during the Biden/Harris administration because it has failed to enforce U.S. sanctions and Iran has used these funds to support terrorist groups, including Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Trump promised to reinstate tough U.S. sanctions on Iran, which he said left it "broke" when he was president.
Trump accused Harris of "hating Israel," noting that she refused to attend a recent speech to a joint session of Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump also said that if Harris wins the election, "Israel would not exist within two years from now" and "the whole place is going to get blown up."
Unfortunately, little was said in the debate about the main threat to U.S. national security – China. Harris falsely portrayed large tariffs that the former president plans to impose against China and other states as a "20% sales tax" that would cause a new recession.
Trump refuted this charge by stating that these tariffs would bring U.S. jobs back to our country, similar to tariffs when he was president.
He also asked Harris why, if the tariffs he imposed on China were so bad, did the Biden/Harris administration not repeal them?
Harris didn’t answer this question and was not asked about it by the debate’s moderators.
Another interesting exchange concerned Harris’s claim that several former Trump national security advisers have said Trump "is dangerous and unfit" to be reelected president.
Trump hit back hard on this charge, noting that these were officials he fired for poor performance, and wrote books after they left his administration.
The former president then turned the tables on Harris by noting that the Biden/Harris administration failed to fire anyone for the disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
It was clear throughout the debate that Kamala Harris was evasive and ran away from the Biden/Harris administration’s appalling national security record which has made the world much more unstable and dangerous than when Donald Trump left office in January 2021.
She gave few details about how she would secure the U.S. southern border or deal with global crises.
Trump did a good job discussing how he would restore U.S. global leadership and security.
Make no mistake, these exchanges on national security were a significant win for President Trump despite the distraction of other issues and the determination of the debate moderators not to hold Harris accountable for the Biden/Harris administration’s national security record.
(A related article may be found here.)
Fred Fleitz is a Newsmax TV contributor. He previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, CIA analyst, and as a member of the House Intelligence Committee staff. Read more of his reports — Click Here Now.