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This email finishes our Trump-Harris debate series. To create this newsletter, we went through hundreds of recorded conversations with swing voters and synthesized each side’s arguments. Today, these hypothetical voters debate American foreign policy. If you missed the debates on immigration and inflation; democracy; and abortion, they’re at those links.
The Facts
Donald Trump has promised to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” without giving any details as to how. He’s also been fully supportive of Israel, endorsing its right to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Kamala Harris has taken a more pro-Ukraine and less pro-Israel stance, repeatedly calling for American support for the former and a ceasefire for the latter.
The Debate
Harris Voter (HV): Donald Trump is going to let Russia take Ukraine.
Trump Voter (TV): It’s not about “letting” Russia do anything. Ukraine can’t defeat Russia and the US should help end the war, rather than prolong it.
HV: Why should that be our decision to make? The Ukrainians want to fight Russia – our adversary – and are asking us for support. We’ve been helping them and should continue to do so for as long as they want. If they want to end the war, fine. But the US shouldn’t abandon them and let Russia win.
TV: A lot of Ukrainians don’t even want to fight. They can’t even find enough soldiers. We are turning Ukraine to score points against Russia. And we now face a real risk of nuclear war with Russia – over Ukraine. Also, Biden has said we’ll support Ukraine for “as long as it takes.” What does that even mean?
HV: It means until they withdraw from Ukraine. Also, most Ukrainians do support the war and don’t want to give up any land to Russia. And there’s not going to be a nuclear war. That’s fearmongering.
TV: Russia is never going to withdraw from Ukraine. And as we drag this out, Russia is getting closer to China and they’re building their own system to evade the US. We’re going to lose control of the financial system – because of Ukraine.
HV: I agree China poses a threat, which is why it’s important for the West to have a united front and show its unity. In Ukraine, we’re making clear to China that if it invades Taiwan, we won’t just let it win. All we have to do is send some weapons to Ukraine and they’ll keep Russia tied down while deterring China.
TV: Do you think we should go to war with China if it invades Ukraine?
HV: I think we need to prevent China from doing so. Taiwan makes all the chips, is a close ally, and a democracy.
TV: Would you want to die fighting over Taiwan?
HV: Do you think we should abandon it?
TV: I think we need to get away from this war reflex and focus on solving our problems at home. We’re always talking about Russia, Iran, and China – why don’t we just focus on fixing our problems at home?
HV: We should do both. We’re not suffering because we’re supporting Ukraine or Taiwan. Most of the money we give them goes to American arms companies, which creates jobs back here while supporting our allies.
TV: You’re saying the quiet part out loud: This whole thing is a racket to fund the military-industrial complex. Zelensky is corrupt and he’s not a democrat. Do you have any idea how corrupt Ukraine is? And that Zelensky has canceled elections? So, why are we supporting him and antagonizing Russia?
HV: Russia is one of our main adversaries. If we just abandon Ukraine, Russia isn’t going to stop there. What’s next – Poland? Estonia? Latvia? Those are NATO countries. If Putin invades there, we’ll have no choice but to respond.
TV: That’s the problem. That doesn’t make sense. Russia doesn’t need to be our enemy. Europe doesn’t even matter anymore. They can take care of themselves. Let’s focus on rebuilding America.
HV: If you’re so opposed to arming Ukraine, why is Israel different?
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Editor’s Note
This post wraps up our debate series. We’ll return with our final series of pre-election on-the-ground reporting on Sunday.
Tons of you wrote extensive replies to yesterday’s SCOTUS/abortion argument. A lot of it was extremely thoughtful and has given us an idea of hosting debates between readers in this newsletter. Stay tuned for that in the weeks ahead.
We hope you have a nice weekend and will see you on Sunday.
–Max and Max
RocaNews co-founders
