PHILADELPHIA: Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump met Tuesday for their first and possibly only debate, a clash that could have a significant impact on the Nov. 5 election as polls show a tight contest.
Here are the conclusions of the debate:
IRRITATING HER RIVAL
Harris wanted to annoy Trump, as her campaign had planned.
He urged viewers to attend a Trump rally, where, he said, Trump would say bizarre things like that windmills cause cancer (which he did say) and where, he joked, attendees would leave out of exhaustion and boredom.
Trump, who prides himself on the audiences he attracts, was clearly irritated.
“My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” he said. He accused Harris of busing attendees to her rallies.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump returns from a commercial break during a presidential debate with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 10, 2024. (AFP)
Trump then falsely claimed that illegal immigrants in the country were killing and eating people's pets in the city of Springfield, Ohio, an unfounded claim that circulated on social media and was amplified by Trump's vice presidential running mate, J.D. Vance.
“In Springfield, they're eating dogs! The people who came, they're eating cats!” Trump said. “They're eating the pets of the people who live there.”
Springfield city officials said the reports were false, something ABC moderators emphasized after Trump's comments.
“We're talking about extremes,” Harris laughed.
PLAYING DEFENSE
Another of Harris’s goals, as a former California prosecutor, was to call Trump out for his past actions, particularly his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
After an hour of debate, his strategy seemed to be paying off. Trump was continually on the defensive.
Democratic presidential candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she speaks during a presidential debate with Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, September 10, 2024. (REUTERS)
When asked about the January 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol, he insisted that he “had nothing to do with it, other than they asked me to give a speech.” He also falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election.
Harris used Trump’s actions as an argument to convince the country to turn the page.
“Donald Trump has been fired by 81 million people, so we have to be clear about that, and it’s clear that he’s having a very difficult time processing that, but we cannot afford to have a president of the United States who is trying, as he has in the past, to subvert the will of the voters in free and fair elections,” Harris said.
The vice president took another swipe at Trump, saying world leaders were “laughing” at him and calling him a disgrace, language Trump himself has used at rallies in reference to how he says other countries view President Joe Biden.
Minutes later, Trump exploded, claiming that Harris had received “no vote” for claiming the Democratic nomination and suggesting that she would replace Biden as part of some sort of coup.
“He hates her,” Trump said of Biden. “He can’t stand her.”
The exchanges may have strengthened Harris’s argument that Trump, as she herself has said, does not have the “temperament” to be president.
Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump reacts in the spin room on the day of his debate with Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, September 10, 2024. (REUTERS)
RACIAL DIVISION
Deep in the debate, the long-simmering issue of race emerged. Trump was asked why he had publicly questioned Harris’s dual heritage as a black woman and a South Asian.
“I don’t care what it is,” he replied. “I read it was black. Then I read it wasn’t black.”
When asked to respond, Harris accused Trump of using race to divide Americans throughout his career. He cited how he and his father turned away black renters in the 1970s and how Trump led a public outcry against five young black and Latino men who were wrongfully convicted of assaulting a jogger in New York City’s Central Park in 1989.
More recently, Harris noted, she openly questioned whether President Barack Obama was a U.S. citizen.
“I think it’s a tragedy that there is someone who wants to be president and who, throughout his career, has consistently tried to use race to divide the American people,” he said.
“I think the American people want better,” Harris added. “We don't want a leader who is constantly trying to get Americans to point fingers at each other.”
Instead of trying to defend his record, Trump returned to the economy and tried to blame Biden's economic policies on Harris. “She's trying to distance herself from Biden,” he said.
Harris used the attack to recast herself as an agent of change.
“Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump,” Harris said, “and what I offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.”
HANDSHAKE
At the start of the debate, there were questions about how Harris and Trump, who have never met, would greet each other.
Harris settled the matter, once and for all. She approached Trump at his podium, extended her hand, and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris.”
For Harris, it was a disarming way to approach a man who had spent weeks insulting her race and gender.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (right) shakes hands with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 10, 2024. (AFP)
SPARRING ON THE ECONOMY
In the opening minutes of the debate, Trump and Harris clashed over one of the most important issues for voters: the economy.
Harris detailed the economic policies she has launched in recent weeks, which include a large tax credit for small startups. Trump focused his comments on tariffs, saying they would protect the American economy from unfair foreign competition.
As both sides made their shots, Harris had the chance to speak first on a topic where she lags Trump in terms of voter confidence. She seemed to force the former president to back down, and Trump essentially played defensive on one of his strongest arguments.
“She has no plan,” Trump said, after Harris’ opening remarks. “It’s like Run, Spot, Run.”
A SCHISM ON ABORTION
The two candidates also engaged in a heated debate over abortion, an issue on which polls give Harris the lead.
Trump defended the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended constitutional protections for abortion and deferred the issue to individual states, arguing, wrongly, that this was an outcome both Republicans and Democrats wanted. Democrats have long supported the constitutional right to abortion.
“I did a great service in doing that. It took courage to do that,” Trump said.
A media representative uses his phone as a screen to show the presidential debate as Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, and Democratic presidential candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, attend a presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, September 10, 2024. (REUTERS)
Trump argued that some states allow abortions after birth, a point corrected by ABC News moderator Linsey Davis.
Harris expressed some outrage at Trump's claim that making abortion a states' rights issue was a popular achievement, referring to states that passed restrictive bans.
“Is this what people wanted?” Harris asked. “People being denied emergency room care because health care workers are afraid of being hauled off to jail?”
Trump was asked whether he would veto a federal abortion ban if it passed Congress. He insisted it would never happen, but declined to answer the question definitively.
WORLDS APART
One of the most heated political arguments occurred when Trump and Harris clashed over how they would handle Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The candidates' responses highlighted how fundamentally different their views are about America's role in the world.
Trump refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to win the war, despite ABC moderator David Muir pushing him on that point, saying only that he wanted to end the conflict as quickly as possible.
Harris countered by arguing that what Trump really wanted was the swift and unconditional capitulation of Ukraine.
“If Donald Trump were president, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now,” Harris said.
'JUSTICE “WEAPON”
In a heated exchange, Trump and Harris accused each other of conspiring to “militarize” the Justice Department in an effort to target their enemies.
Trump has claimed that the charges he faces for conspiring to overturn his 2020 election defeat and for his mishandling of classified documents, as well as his conviction for falsifying documents related to hush money payments to a porn star, are all the result of a conspiracy engineered by Harris and Biden. There is no evidence to support that claim.
Harris countered by pointing out that Trump has promised to criminally prosecute his enemies if he wins a second term.
“You understand this is a person who has openly said he would revoke, quote, revoke the Constitution,” Harris said.
The exchange underscored how Harris and Trump see the stakes of this election as existential. Both see their opponent as a threat to democracy itself.
