A St. Thomas student reacts to Harris’ comments during Tuesday’s debate. (Adam Mueller/ The Crest) 
Students at the College Democrats watch party watch the presidential debate in the Anderson Student Center. (Anya Capistrant-Kinney/The Crest) 
Students at the College Republicans watch party look on in disbelief. (Adam Mueller/The Crest) 
Seniors William Murphy and Sebastian Stoss wore T-shirts with famous photos of Trump. (Adam Mueller/The Crest) 
A DFL representative talks to the College Democrats club. (Anya Capistrant-Kinney/ The Crest)
St. Thomas political clubs gathered separately to watch the debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Anderson Student Center on Tuesday.
The St. Thomas College Democrats and College Republicans met to watch the debate live in the basement and third floor of the ASC respectively. Around 40 students were present at each.
“It was good to see a packed house like this,” said senior Brian Barua, president of the College Democrats.
“Can you believe that? 40 people. It’s a great turnout, I love it,” College Republicans president senior William Murphy said.
The College Democrats watch party focused on encouraging people to vote and helping make more college students aware of the Harris-Walz campaign.
“Voting is a major priority with us,” Barua said, “18-21 year olds have the lowest voter turnout in the country for an age group.”
A representative from the DFL at the watch party encouraged attendees to vote and had a voter registration sheet for students to fill out who weren’t yet registered.
“It’s important to let people know how easy it is to get registered … if you don’t get your voice heard, no one else is going to,” Barua said.
Students watched mostly in silence in a dark room illuminated by the projector screen of the debate, often laughing at Trump’s attacks on Harris and her campaign.
International student and sophomore Oliver Bahremad said that he wished Harris brought up LGBTQ+ rights in the debate.
“In some states, gender-affirming care is very hard to access and not very affordable for a lot of people. I think that it would have been nice if it was mentioned,” Bahremad said.
The Republican watch party was light-hearted, akin to a sports game. Spectators cheered, clapped and laughed at comments from both candidates. The biggest crowd reaction came when Trump mentioned Minneapolis “burning down.”
“(Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz) allowed the Twin Cities to burn … he allowed all these businesses to be burned to the ground,” said senior Sebastian Stoss, vice president of College Republicans club.
Murphy compared the candidates’ performances to the presidential debates in 2016.
“I believe Kamala Harris was similar to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump … doesn’t have that same energy in 2016 but he still did a great job,” Murphy said.
Those in attendance expressed frustration at Harris’ campaign platform, even shouting “What plan?” at the screen.
Murphy also said that Harris “borrowed” policies from President Biden and Trump’s campaigns.
“She’s kind of committing plagiarism,” Murphy said.
Stoss and Murphy wore T-shirts with Trump’s mugshot and the photo of him raising his fist after the assassination attempt on him in July.
Senior Sai Kallur watched the debate from the doorway and kept his distance from the College Republican’s watch party. As an international student, he said he follows U.S. politics, but doesn’t engage. He said he’s seen some of his closest friends torn apart by politics.
“It doesn’t apply to me, so I can’t be in the same shoes to experience these things,” Kallur said, “But what I can experience is the awkwardness.”
Murphy says that this is the most contentious and important election.
“It’s just a decision of choosing freedom or communism,” Murphy said, “Or the death of the country.”
The Poynter Institute’s fact-checking site, Politifact, has refuted previous claims by Trump that Harris is a communist.
A fact check of the debate can be read here.
Anya Capistrant-Kinney can be reached at capi2087@stthomas.edu.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.