Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Wednesday, 18 September 2024
US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took the stage on Tuesday night for their first and only scheduled presidential debate before the November 5 election.
Harris, the Democratic vice president who is a former courtroom prosecutor, was eager to prosecute Trump's glaring liabilities. But she also was tasked with re-reintroducing herself to voters, who are still getting to know her as the party's presidential nominee.
Trump, a Republican now in his third presidential election, was set on painting Harris as an out-of-touch liberal. He also tried to win over skeptical suburban voters — many of them women — turned off by Trump's brash leadership style and his penchant for personal insults.
The 90-minute debate played out inside Philadelphia's National Constitutional Center. In accordance with rules negotiated by both campaigns, there was no live audience and the candidates' microphones were muted when it was not their turn to speak.
Some takeaways on a historic night.
From the opening handshake, Harris took the fight to Trump in a way that Biden could not.
The vice president walked across the stage and introduced herself, “Kamala Harris,” before reaching out and grabbing Trump's hand in the opening moments.
Harris may have gotten under Trump's skin the most when she went after his performance at his rallies, noting that many people often leave early.
Trump was largely calm when he defended himself against each charge, but he showed annoyance with her comment about his rallies. He insisted his events were larger than hers and he seemed to grow angrier at times as the debate continued.
Harris frequently shifted her message from Trump back to the American people.
“You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams and your needs and your desires,” Harris said of Trump's rallies. “And I'll tell you, I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first.”
An early skirmish on the economy
The debate opened with an unexpectedly wonky exchange on the economy: Harris took on Trump for his plan to put in place sweeping tariffs and for the trade deficit he ran as president; Trump slammed Harris for inflation that he incorrectly said was the worst in the country's history.
The exchange ended up with some of Trump's traditional bombast. He said Harris was a “Marxist” even though she had just cited positive reviews of her economic plans from Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. But it was particularly notable for Harris' effort to turn the tables on Trump.
Trump noted that people look back on his presidency's economy fondly. “I created one of the greatest economies in the history of our country,” he said. Harris flatly told viewers: “Donald Trump has no plan for you.”
Americans are slightly more likely to trust Trump over Harris when it comes to handling the economy, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll from August.
On Afghanistan
Kamala Harris: I agreed with Biden's decision to pull out of Afghanistan. Trump negotiated directly with a terrorist organization called the Taliban.
Donald Trump: We would have been out faster than them. Would not have left many Americans behind. This was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.
Russia-Ukraine War:
Kamala Harris: I think why Donald Trump says this war would be over in 24 hours is because he would give it up. If Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now
Donald Trump: They sent her to negotiate peace. Three days later, the (Russia-Ukraine) war started. He (Biden) is the worst president in the history of our country, and she goes down as the worst vice president.
Kamala: I said it before, you will be hearing a bunch of lies from this fellow.
Israel-Gaza conflict
"It must end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a ceasefire deal, and we need the hostages out," said Harris.
"She hates Israel. If she's president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now," said Trump to which Harris responded: "That's absolutely not true. I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people."
She did not even mention that her husband is Jewish. She didn’t have to.
On Immigration
"She is destroying this country. We will become Venezuela on steroids if she becomes president," Donald Trump said attacking Kamala Harris and the Biden administration over illegal migration into the US.
"I'll tell you something, he's going to talk about immigration a lot tonight, even when it's not the subject that is being raised," said Harris.
Trump endorsed a baseless conspiracy theory that immigrants were stealing and eating people's dogs ands cats. Harris was suitably incredulous.
Both candidates dig in on abortion
Harris came out swinging in defense of abortion rights, perhaps the strongest issue for Democrats since Trump's nominees created a Supreme Court majority to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion. Her sharp arguments provided a vivid contrast to President Joe Biden's rambling comments on the issue during his June debate with Trump.
“The government, and Donald Trump, certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said. She painted a vivid picture of women facing medical complications, gut-wrenching decisions and having to travel out of state for an abortion.
Trump said he returned the issue to the states, an outcome he said many Americans wanted. He struggled with accuracy, however, repeating the false claim that Democrats support abortion even after babies are born. He stuck to that even after he was corrected by moderator Lynsey Davis.
“I did a great service in doing that. It took courage to do it,” Trump said of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and its constitutional protections for abortion. “And the Supreme Court had great courage in doing it. And I give tremendous credit to those six justices.”
Polls have shown significant opposition to overturning Roe and voters have punished Republicans in recent elections for it.
Trump refused to say whether he would veto a bill banning abortion nationwide, saying such legislation would never clear Congress and reach the president.
Members of the media use a screen to watch the presidential debate, as Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attend a presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
ReutersOn January 6, 2021 Capitol Attack
"I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech," said Trump, when asked if he regretted anything that day.
"I was at the Capitol. I was the vice president-elect. I was also a senator and on that day, the president of the United States incited a violent mob to attack our nation's capital, to desecrate our nation's capital," said Harris.
On Healthcare
Kamala Harris does not articulate a clear healthcare plan but said she would continue to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, a signature piece of legislation from former Democratic President Barack Obama.
Trump has sought to repeal the act, which provides subsidized health insurance to US citizens. He has since been less clear on how he would approach the issue.
“You have no plan,” Harris said to Trump.The former president has slammed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a piece of healthcare legislation passed under former President Barack Obama which runs largely on private insurance along with some subsidies and regulations.
But Trump said he would only repeal the ACA if he has a plan to make healthcare cheaper and better.
“We still do not have a plan. I have concepts of a plan. I’m not president right now,” he said.
Harris slams Trump for invoking racial and gender stereotypes
Trump, 78, has struggled to adapt to Harris, 59, who is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. The Republican former president has at times resorted to invoking racial and gender stereotypes, frustrating allies who want Trump to focus instead on policy differences with Harris.
“I read where she was not Black,” Trump said when asked about comments questioning Harris' race, and then he added a minute later, “and then I read that she was Black.” He seemed to suggest her race was a choice, saying twice, “That's up to her.”
“I think it's a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people,” Harris responded.
Harris said Trump has a long history of racial division, going back to when his family's company was investigated for refusing to rent to black people decades ago. She also mentioned that he called for the death penalty for the “Central Park Five,” who were falsely accused of rape, and spread false “birther” theories about President Barack Obama.
“I think the American people want better than that, want better than this,” she said, nodding toward Trump.
The reactions from both the campaigns
Before the debate was even over, Trump’s campaign sent an email declaring “victory”.
“President Trump delivered a masterful debate performance tonight, prosecuting Kamala Harris’s abysmal record of failure that has hurt Americans for the last 4 years,” the campaign said in a statement.
But Democrats were similarly ebullient about their candidate’s performance. In the aftermath of the debate, Harris’s running mate Tim Walz described Harris as “tough”.
“She’s experienced. And she’s ready,” he said. “Could not be prouder to be on this ticket with her.”
Reactions from political strategists and politicians
Marc Short, former chief of staff to VP Pence
"Trump missed an opportunity to stay focused prosecuting the case against Biden-Harris on the economy and border and instead took her bait and chased down rabbit holes on election denialism and immigrants eating our pets. Harris passed the test of looking presidential and Trump didn't expose her historically radical positions. The impact will likely extend to competitive House races."
Dan Eberhart, Republican donor
"I only saw one commander in chief on the stage. Trump looked focused, strong and in command of the issues."
Karen Finney, Democratic strategist
"This is going to be remembered as the one of the most impressive debate performances in modern politics. The VP is doing exactly what she needed to do: talk about her vision and policy ideas, illustrate the contrast between herself and Trump and stay out of the way of his unraveling. He is rambling, making things up and spouting lies and nonsense faster than the fact checkers can keep up."
