America's Most Pressing Issue That Harris-Trump Debate Missed – Guns

There are no “good” and “bad” guys. We cling to comforting myths, failing to recognise that guns are always lethal.

Some people were surprised that Kamala Harris, in her first and only debate with Donald Trump, was able to deliver a knockout. A commanding figure on the stage, she looked more presidential than the former president. Harris succeeded where others, including President Joe Biden, had failed. As a woman of colour, she was probably used to being underestimated, one commentator noted. The doubters seemed to have forgotten that Harris had been a hard-driving prosecutor for years.

Others may have been surprised that Trump, known for his overweening confidence and bluster, looked uncomfortable as he sparred with Harris. It was a disaster for him. Some wondered if Trump’s performance, which was unhinged even by his standards, indicated cognitive decline.

For me, though, the debate’s biggest surprise was something else. It had to do with the moderators, who failed to ask a single question about gun violence, which I believe is the most pressing issue facing the US. Indeed, just a week before the debate, there was a horrific school shooting in Georgia, causing four deaths and leaving nine people injured. Shockingly, the shooter, a student at the school, is 14 years old. Along with his father, who owned the AR-15-style rifle used in the massacre, the boy is being tried as an adult. It was another tragic and senseless incident, not just for the families but for the entire country.

The only time “guns” came up during the 90-minute debate was when Trump said that Harris, if elected, would confiscate people’s guns! She rejected the charge.