PHILADELPHIA: Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump clashed over the economy, immigration, abortion, and Trump’s legal woes at their combative first presidential debate on Tuesday night, both seeking a campaign-altering moment in their closely fought election.
Harris appeared to get under the former president’s skin with a series of sharp assaults, prompting a visibly angry Trump to deliver a stream of falsehood-filled replies.
At one point, Kamala Harris brought up Trump’s campaign rallies, goading him by saying that people often leave early “out of tiredness and boredom.”
Donald Trump, who has been annoyed by the size of Kamala Harris’ own crowds, stated, “My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible gathering in the history of politics.” He then turned to an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory claiming that Haitian immigrants in Ohio, are “eating the animals” of locals.
“Talk about extreme,” Harris said, laughing. With around eight weeks to go before the November 5 election, and days until early voting starts in some parts, the debate — the only one scheduled — presented both risks and opportunities for each candidate in front of a televised audience of tens of millions of voters.
Trump’s legal woes
Harris strongly criticized Donald Trump over his criminal conviction for covering up hush money payments to a star as well as his other accusations and a civil judgment finding him liable for sexual attack. Trump has refused wrongdoing and again alleged Harris and the Democrats of orchestrating all of the cases without any evidence.
Economy
Both candidates opened the debate by giving focus to the country’s economy, an issue that polls show favors Donald Trump. Harris attacked Trump’s intention to implement high tariffs on foreign goods — a suggestion she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class — while advertising her plan to offer tax benefits to small businesses and families.
“Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression,” Harris claimed, referring to his years as president from 2017 to 2021. Unemployment peaked at 14.8 percent in April 2020 and at 6.4 percent when Trump left office.
Inflation
Trump, criticized Kamila Harris for the inflation during the Biden’s administration, though he overstated the level of price rises. He pivoted rapidly to his top issue, immigration, saying again without evidence that migrants from “insane asylums” are crossing the US border with Mexico. Inflation, he added, “has been a disaster for the citizens, for every class.”
The debate got under way at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday with a surprise handshake between the two rivals, who had never met before. Kamila Harris approached Donald Trump at his lectern, introducing herself by name.
The encounter is particularly significant for Harris, with opinion polls showing that over a quarter of likely voters feel they do not know enough about the current Vice President. She entered the race only just seven weeks ago following Biden’s exit.
Abortion
Harris also delivered a lengthy assault on abortion limits. She claimed Trump would support a national ban, an assertion the former President called a lie. The Vice President also sought to tie Donald Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that suggests extending executive power, eliminating environmental rules and making it unlawful to ship abortion pills across state lines, among other right-wing targets. Trump responded that he has “nothing to do” with Project 2025, though some of his consultants were involved in its creation.
First Meeting
Donald Trump, who has spent weeks launching personal assaults on Harris that have included sexist and racist insults, mostly avoided insults during the debate’s early moments. But Trump called her a “Marxist” as he grew gradually agitated.
Fellow Republicans and Trump’s advisers had urged him to focus on the high levels of inflation and immigration during Biden’s administration.
Presidential debates can transform the dynamics of a race as Biden’s poor performance against Trump in June led him to abandon his election campaign on July 21.
Both candidates are effectively tied in the seven battlefield states likely to decide the election, according to the New York Times.
The 90-minute debate, hosted by ABC News, was held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
