If Donald Trump’s name were Adam, we might as well call him Scorched Earth. Like Adam in biblical stories, who is often associated with the fall of humanity and the introduction of suffering into the world, Trump represents a destructive, primal force— tearing down the very foundations of truth, decency and democracy. 

His actions have left a trail of devastation, much like the original sin left its mark on humanity. Vice President Kamala Harris took his pile of phobias, racism, bigotry, and dishonesty to task with precision at last week’s debate. 

Across the globe, the bells are ringing, the siren sounds of celebration, that someone, at last, has cast a shadow over his sheen of bluster, dulling the mask of confusion. Now, I find myself pleading, plotting and practically begging the Democratic coalition to reimagine the rhetorical frameworks needed to combat the absurd, the obtuse and the abhorrent with unconventional brilliance. 

Trump’s word salads are no small matter. They are potential landmines that demand imagination, innovation and wit to disarm. 

It’s not that the signs of Trump’s deception are subtle; they are loud, clear, and cacophonous. His sniffles, those sudden, abrasive gasps for breath, reek of desperation, like a man drowning, gasping for life. 

It’s as though anger alone isn’t driving him; it’s survival instinct, sheer panic to stay afloat. The press missed this, maybe deliberately, maybe naively. But had they caught on sooner, they could have intervened long ago. 

Then there’s the matter of his hands, those accordion hands, moving back and forth with an erratic, almost hypnotic rhythm. He gestures wildly, drawing attention away from his incoherent rhetoric, hoping to mesmerize with motion where meaning is absent.

His aim is simple: make you see something unimpeachable in his words, even when they carry nothing but noise. It’s a distraction, a performance paired with the hypnotic cadence of double-talk. 

When Trump moves into unhinged repetition—phrases incomplete and erratic—you might think you’re hearing a new form of political onomatopoeia. But no. This is far from sound symbolism. 

His ramblings are incoherent, illogical and incohesive. And here’s the trick: he never intended to make sense. His goal has always been to get away with not making sense. The key is to know this, to understand it, and to refuse to take the bait.

His rhetoric is a form of hypnosis, and for those not trained to watch his hands and listen closely, sight overwhelms hearing, and soon, they slip into a trance-like stupor. His speech is not far from a chant: chaotic, cultish and designed to confuse. 

But this debate was different. Here, for the first time, we saw someone who wasn’t spellbound by distraction. 

Harris distilled his rhetoric in real-time—responding, not reacting; pivoting, not punting; stinging, not stalling. She showed us all what it looks like to stand toe-to-toe with absurdity and come out sharper, smarter and stronger.

This was not merely a rebuttal; it was a dismantling.

Democrats, take note. Down-ballot candidates need to learn from this moment. 

In red districts where Republicans have coasted on Trump’s charisma, you can now see the path forward. No more euphemisms— go for elegant exactness, deliberate clarity, and truth. 

Yet, let’s be clear: this debate, though victorious for Harris, does not mean she has the election wrapped up. Even post-debate, she remains the underdog. 

Despite moderators Muir and Davis stepping in to fact-check Trump’s lies and dishonesty in real-time, Harris had to fight for time and respect— fighting not only against Trump’s delusions but against the implicit biases woven into the debate itself. 

Trump spoke for 42 minutes and 52 seconds, Harris for 37 minutes and 41 seconds. These extra minutes are not just numbers. They reflect the favor granted to Trump, even when his statements crumbled under scrutiny. 

And while many will obscure Trump’s dishonesty with false equivalencies, don’t let them. The rules were clear. Each candidate was allotted two minutes, yet Trump bargained, argued, and successfully bullied the moderators into granting him extra rebuttals and airtime. 

Meanwhile, when Harris attempted to speak, the Black female moderator, Linsey Davis, adhered strictly to the schedule, insisting she move on to the next question. It’s not just favoritism; it’s systemic. 

In truth, Harris exposed Trump as the petulant adult-child he is, holding him accountable for his delusions about the 2020 election. She pushed back, inviting the American people to bear witness to his fantasies, his obsessions over windmills and wild conspiracies.

She didn’t shy away; she told them to look, listen, and decide for themselves. She welcomed them to be the jury in Trump’s trial for fitness to lead. 

In these final moments that sometimes feel like “these last days,” she stood, heels and all, against a man towering over her. She didn’t falter. She walked up, offered her hand, and met his dismissive glance with an unflinching “Don’t lie.” 

It was a masterful, deliberate command of the room— and the country. And while some still question her strength, they can no longer deny her resolve. She is sharper, steadier, and stronger than Trump— without question. 

It’s clear to me that the scorched earth Trump has left behind—ravaging truth, decency, and democracy—stands in contrast to the seeds of hope, truth, and resilience Harris has planted. Where Trump leaves destruction, she leaves the promise of renewal. It leaves me wondering, “Why is this even still a contest?” 

Yet, even as Harris stands poised to rebuild, the reality of Trump’s scorched earth persists, manifesting not just in policy and rhetoric but in the violent actions it incites. Trump recently claimed, “There were gunshots in my vicinity… I AM SAFE AND WELL!… Nothing will slow me down, I will NEVER SURRENDER!”

In reality, a press conference revealed the only shot fired was at the would-be assailant’s weapon, not at Trump himself. Nevertheless, he escalated the situation, using it as fuel to argue that he is under attack because Democrats have labeled him a threat to democracy.

This is classic Trump: incite chaos, then claim to be the victim when the fire grows out of control.

But let’s be clear. Violence is never justified. The fact that the assailant was reportedly angered by Trump’s treatment of Ukraine only underscores how far-reaching the consequences of his actions are. 

Trump has created an environment so charged with division and vitriol that it sparks desperation. His constant narrative—that the election is rigged unless he wins, that he alone can save the nation—is absurd in its dishonesty. He forecasts a stolen election every time he runs, painting any outcome not in his favor as an injustice, which is not only illogical but dangerous. 

In this context, Trump’s response to the assassination attempt isn’t a call for de-escalation but a stoking of the flames. He suggests that the Democrats’ rhetoric is to blame, ignoring his own role in creating a climate ripe for extremism. This is the same rhetoric that labels his opponents as enemies of the state and undermines democratic processes if they don’t serve his interests. 

Harris, on the other hand, cuts through this hypocrisy. She stands as the antidote, offering a way forward that doesn’t rely on fearmongering or fabrications. 

The culture Trump has fomented is one where accountability is absent and where the complicity of the fourth estate, the press, and the political elite, particularly in his own party, fuels the fire. 

For years, Republicans have failed to check his worst impulses. They have slow-walked any meaningful response to his corruption, from his extortion of Ukrainian aid to his impeachment— only to watch as Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, abdicated their duty to hold him accountable.

This inaction isn’t just political malpractice— it’s the fertile soil in which desperation takes root, leading individuals to believe that radical, even violent action, is the only solution. 

This desperation is a symptom of the broader illness Trumpism represents. Just as we sometimes ignore the early warning signs of illness in our own bodies, hoping that it will pass, the Republican Party has enabled Trump’s petulance, hoping that somehow things would self-correct. 

Instead, they now face a late-stage political cancer—one that may not be reversible without drastic action. Trump’s behavior, left unchecked, is not only a threat to democracy but also a catalyst for the kind of madness we’ve seen in the form of assassination attempts and threats against his life. 

It’s not just the Republican Party. The complicity runs deep. 

The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roberts, has also played a role. According to the New York Times, Roberts helped shape key decisions that ultimately protected Trump, allowing his reckless behavior to continue. 

Roberts intervened in cases related to January 6 and Trump’s election fraud claims, stalling the legal process and buying Trump more time to spread his lies. This judicial leniency, coupled with political inaction, has nurtured a culture where the lines between truth and falsehood blur, leading to the desperation we now witness. 

These assassination attempts are not just isolated acts of violence. They are symptoms of a larger societal desperation—an urgent, albeit misguided, attempt to rid the world of the vitriol and division that Trump has incubated. 

But violence is not the answer. Instead, the healing must begin with confronting the scorched earth Trump has left behind and repairing the institutions—political, judicial, and media—that have allowed him to thrive. 

In the end, this is not just a story of destruction. It’s the beginning of a strategy to heal. 

The path forward requires acknowledging how deep the damage runs while planting seeds of renewal and resilience, just as Harris demonstrated on that debate stage. We are hoping it’s not too late.