Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris put Republican Donald Trump on the defensive in a combative Presidential Debate in Philadelphia with attacks on abortion rights, his legal woes, links to the uprising at the Capitol on January 6 and the size of his rallies as both candidates put their plans to the public in the closely fought election.
Former US president Trump and Harris clashed in the ABC News-hosted debate that took place just eight weeks before the November 5 election, with both candidates locked in a tight race that could still easily swing in either direction.
At one point, Harris brought up Trump’s campaign rallies, goading him by saying that people often leave early “out of exhaustion and boredom”.
Trump responded by saying: “My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.” He then pivoted to a claim that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are “eating the pets” of residents.
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The candidates clashed over issues such as immigration, foreign policy and healthcare, but the debate was light on specific policy details. Instead, Harris’ aggressive approach succeeded in putting the focus on Trump.
Harris delivered a lengthy attack on abortion limits, speaking passionately about women denied emergency care and victims of incest unable to terminate their pregnancies due to statewide bans that have proliferated since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right in 2022. Three Trump appointees were in the majority of that ruling.
She also claimed Trump would support a national ban, an assertion Trump called a lie.
Trump, who has sometimes struggled with messaging on abortion, claimed falsely that Harris and Democrats support infanticide, which - as moderator Linsey Davis noted - is illegal in every state.
“As I said, you’re going to hear a bunch of lies,” Harris said.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are seen on a screen in the spin room as they participate in a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by MATTHEW HATCHER / AFP)
The 90-minute debate was at the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia.
There was no live audience and microphones were muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak.
Early voting in the election will start in some states just days after the debate.
The encounter was particularly important for Harris, with opinion polls showing that more than a quarter of likely voters feel they do not yet know enough about her, in contrast with the well-known Trump.
Trump’s advisers and fellow Republicans urged him to focus on illegal immigration and high prices, issues that play well with voters, and portraying Harris as too liberal for the country.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris speaks in Kalamazoo in July. Photo / Getty Images
“There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go, and we should be prepared for that,” Harris said in an earlier radio interview.
Presidential debates do not always move the needle, but they can transform the dynamics of a race.
President Joe Biden’s faltering performance against Trump in June was so damaging that it eventually led him to abandon his campaign.
The candidates are effectively tied in the seven battleground states likely to decide the election, according to polling averages compiled by the New York Times.
“There is more for Kamala Harris to gain and more for her to lose,” said Mitchell McKinney, a former adviser to the US Commission on Presidential Debates, since she remains somewhat of an unknown for many voters.
Viewers would be looking for where she stands on various issues.
But just as important, they will look to see how she handled herself against Trump.
Trump, by contrast, is already well-defined.
“You’re either for him or against him” at this point, McKinney said.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Harrah's Cherokee Center on August 14. Photo / Getty Images
Earlier, a Harris campaign official said the vice-president was expected to hammer Trump on abortion and describe him as unfit to lead.
She is also expected to tout her plans to strengthen the middle class and lower costs for consumers.
Abortion has been a top issue for Harris and Democrats since 2022, when the US Supreme Court - powered by three Trump appointees - eliminated a nationwide right to the procedure in a broadly unpopular decision.
She has also sought to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative blueprint from the Heritage Foundation think tank that proposes expanding executive power, eliminating environmental regulations and making it illegal to ship abortion pills across state lines, among other right-wing goals.
Trump has offered shifting rhetoric on abortion while distancing himself from Project 2025, even though it has links to many of his former advisers.
Trump will tie Harris to the Biden administration’s immigration policy, attacking them for record levels of migrant crossings before a recent spate of executive orders drove the numbers down dramatically.
He will also likely blame Harris for high consumer prices that have Americans feeling pessimistic about the economy despite strong job and wage growth.
