The two main US presidential candidates, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, are facing off in their first – but this election campaign’s second – TV debate, hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Trump easily won his party’s primaries to earn a rematch of the 2020 contest with President Joe Biden, only to see the Democrats force their man to drop out of the race just weeks after the June 27 debate on CNN. The Democratic Party then acclaimed Harris, Biden’s vice president, as its chosen candidate.
The debate is being held under the rules demanded by Biden’s campaign. This includes no studio audience and no interruptions, which Harris tried to change without success.
11 September 2024
In his own closing statement, Trump questioned Harris’ track record and new promises.
“She just started by saying she’s gonna do this, she’s gonna do that, she’s gonna do all these wonderful things… Why hasn’t she done it? She’s been there for three and a half years,” the former president said.
“What these people have done to our country … they’re destroying our country. The worst president, the worst vice president in the history of our country,” he added.
In her closing statement, Harris claimed that her background as a prosecutor makes her a perfect candidate to lead the country as she vowed to protect Americans “rights and freedoms.”
“I will be a president that will protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do. I’ll tell you, I started my career as a prosecutor. I was the DA, I was an attorney general, United States senator and now vice-president. I only have one client: the people.”
Harris stressed that she stands by Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan, portraying it as a historic move to end “the endless war” that was burdening American taxpayers. She also shifted the blame for the situation in the Middle Eastern country spiraling out of control on what she said was “one of the weakest deals you can imagine” with the Taliban struck by Trump.
Trump parried by saying he was ready to negotiate even with the Taliban to save the lives of American soldiers. According to the Republican, the agreement was extremely clear and provided specific instructions for the withdrawal, but the Biden administration “blew it.”
“The agreement was terminated by us because they did not do what they were supposed to do,” he said, describing the withdrawal as the “most embarrassing moment in the history of our country”.
“By the way, that’s why Russia attacked Ukraine. Because it saw how incompetent she and her boss are,” Trump added.
Israel has every right to defend itself against Hamas, but how it does so is crucial given the numerous civilian casualties in Gaza, Harris said.
“This war must end… We need a ceasefire deal and the hostages released,” she stressed, voicing support for a two-state solution that enables peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed that the Israel-Hamas war would never have broken out if he had been president. He accused Harris of “hating Israel,” pointing out that the vice president skipped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s keynote speech in Congress. “If she is president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years,” he added.
Harris charged back, stating that if Trump had indeed ended the conflict in 24 hours, it would have been only because “he would’ve given up.” She went on to highlight her alleged track record in consolidating Western support for Ukraine.
“If Donald Trump were president, Putin would have been sitting in Kiev right now,” she said.
“Through the work that I and others did, we brought 50 countries together to support Ukraine in its righteous defense, and because of our support, because of the air defense, the ammunition, the artillery, the javelins, the Abrams tanks that we have provided, Ukraine stands as an independent and free country.”
Trump stated that if he had been president, he would have prevented the Ukraine conflict, vowing to end it even before being sworn into office. When asked if he wanted Kiev to win the conflict, the Republican replied that he wanted “the war to stop.”
“People are being killed by the millions. It’s so much worse than the numbers you’re getting,” he claimed.
Trump asserted that he had established a good rapport with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, alleging that Biden had failed to do so because he is not respected.
”When I saw Putin building up soldiers on Ukraine’s border, I said: ‘Oh, he must be negotiating; it must be a strong point of negotiation.’ Well, it wasn’t. Because Biden had no idea how to talk to him… And it is only getting worse, and it could lead to World War III.”
Harris has claimed that world leaders are “laughing at Donald Trump.”
“I have talked to military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you’re a disgrace,” she told Trump.
She went on to claim that Trump “admires dictators, and wants to be a dictator on day one.”
“It is absolutely well known that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again because it’s so clear they can manipulate you with flattery and favor,” she said. “It is very well known that Donald Trump is weak and wrong on national security and foreign policy.”
Trump has reiterated his accusation that Democrats may be partly responsible for the assassination attempt against him two months ago.
“I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things they say about me,” he claimed, accusing his Democratic rival and President Joe Biden of promoting rhetoric that could have encouraged the shooter.
As Trump has accused the Biden administration of mishandling migration, Harris said that she supported the bill to enhance border security.
“You know what happened to that bill? Donald Trump got on the phone… with some folks in Congress and said ‘kill the bill.’ He preferred to run on the problem instead of fixing [it],” she said.
Trump has slammed the Democrats' border policies, claiming that immigrants are “taking over the towns… they’re going in violently.” He also referred to a bizarre rumor that Haitian migrants have been murdering and eating pet cats in Ohio, which previously embroiled his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, in controversy.
”In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs; the people that came in, they’re eating the cats … they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame,” the former president said.
The moderator said that ABC News reached out to the city manager, who insisted there have been "no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Harris did not answer why the Biden administration kept some Trump-era tariffs in place, but instead has blasted Trump’s policy on China, suggesting that his administration allowed the sale of microchips to China, allowing Beijing to boost its military.
She also claimed that Trump “thanked” President Xi Jinping for the approach to the Covid-19 pandemic, despite allegedly knowing “that Xi was responsible for lacking and not giving us transparency about the origins of Covid.”
Portraying Harris as “Marxist,” Trump responded by saying that the US hardly makes its own chips, mostly due to the policies of the Democratic administration.
In his rebuttal, Trump accused the current US government of failing to rein in inflation.
“Look, we’ve had a terrible economy because inflation… is really known as a country buster. It breaks up countries. We have inflation like very few people have ever seen before, probably the worst in our nation’s history,” he said.
“She doesn’t have a plan,” Trump stated. “She copied Biden’s plan. And it’s like four sentences like ‘Run, Spot, Run’ for sentences that are just, oh, we’ll try and lower taxes. She doesn’t have a plan. Take a look at her plan. She doesn’t have a plan.”
The first question is about the economy and whether Harris believes that “Americans are better off than they were four years ago?”
The Vice President said she was “raised as a middle class kid” and thus is “the only person on this stage who has a plan” about lifting up the working class.
“I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people, and that is why I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy,” Harris said.
To achieve that, she said she plans to make housing more affordable, expand the child tax credit and put in place tax deductions for start-up small businesses. She also said that the Biden administration had to “clean up Donald Trump’s mess” after the Republican’s term in office.
Harris and Trump have walked onto the debate stage and shook hands. The event is expected to last around 90 minutes. According to the rules, candidates are not allowed to make opening statements, bring prewritten notes, or ask questions of each other.
The Harris debate team has prepared her to counter Trump’s most popular lines of attack, including those targeting Biden administration policies on border security and the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, CNN reported, citing sources. According to the network, Harris’s aides expect the candidate to portray Trump as “unserious” and to launch her own counterattacks targeting her rival’s record as president, rather than take the bait. Regarding immigration, CNN sources suggested that the Democrat “has more than enough in terms of making the case” on this topic.
ABC producers could potentially unmute the microphones of both candidates if something “really newsworthy” or “editorially significant happens,” according to CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter. He noted, however, that no agreements have been made with Harris and Trump’s teams to change the rules.
Ahead of the debate, Rick Klein, ABC’s political director, indicated that the moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, are “not making a commitment to fact-check everything or to fact-check nothing in either direction.”
He told the New York Times that the moderators intend “to keep a conversation going and to facilitate a good solid debate.”
“That entails a lot in terms of asking questions, moving the conversation along, and ensuring that it’s civilized,” Klein added.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ran unsuccessfully against Trump in the 2016 election, assisted Harris in developing a debate strategy, NBC News has reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Clinton allegedly advised Harris to resist any attempts by Trump to “bait” her and to try and turn those provocations back on him.
10 September 2024
Former First Lady Melania Trump has called for answers to “uncover the truth” behind the attempted assassination of her husband in a short video clip posted on X (formerly Twitter) ahead of the debate on Tuesday.
“The attempt to end my husband’s life was a horrible, distressing experience. Now, the silence around it feels heavy. I can’t help but wonder: Why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech?” she said. “There is definitely more to this story and we need to uncover the truth.”
US President Joe Biden has stated that he plans to watch the debate later tonight and claimed he has given some “advice” to Kamala Harris ahead of it.
”I spoke to the Vice President; she seems calm, cool, and collected. I think she’s going to do great. And I’m not going to tell you what advice I gave her,” Biden told reporters.
Ahead of the debate, Trump has released his ‘Agenda 47’ platform. The 20-point plan starts with securing the borders and mass-deporting illegal immigrants, and envisions rebuilding US industry, boosting energy production, halting inflation, cutting taxes, upholding the Constitution, making efforts to “prevent World War Three,” preserving the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency, and cutting regulations, among other things. Having gone for weeks without any policy on her campaign site, Harris posted one on Monday – only to be accused of plagiarizing Biden’s.
Trump has reportedly relied on Tulsi Gabbard to prepare for the debate with Harris. Gabbard famously “destroyed” Harris during a 2019 debate in the Democratic primaries, by bringing up her record as a prosecutor. Meanwhile, Harris has reportedly counted on former Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines to play Trump in rehearsals, much as he did for Clinton in 2016.
Both candidates are emphasizing endorsements from the other side of the political aisle. Former Republican VP Dick Cheney and his daughter, former member of Congress Liz Cheney, as well as former senator and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, have all come out in support of Harris. Meanwhile, Trump has been endorsed by former congresswoman and one-time Democratic National Committee chair Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump was nearly killed at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July, after a lone gunman evaded local police and the Secret Service to fire several shots from a rifle. While Trump’s ear was grazed as he turned to look at an immigration chart, one of the rally attendees was killed and two others were seriously wounded in the attempted assassination.
Trump and Harris are entering the debate as polls show the Republican gaining favor with voters, and the Democrat losing the momentum last month’s convention in Chicago gave her. Polling averages show Harris only one point ahead of Trump nationwide, while an electoral college analysis by RealClearPolitics has shown Trump on track to win.