Donald Trump and Kamala Harris clashed fiercely on Tuesday night in their first and possibly only debate ahead of November’s Presidential election.
The 90-minute duel in Philadelphia saw a volley of personal attacks as they tussled over abortion, immigration the economy, and foreign policy.
The night started with a handshake, the first in a Presidential debate in eight years.
Harris spent more time of the debate looking directly at her opponent, often smirking, laughing out loud, or shaking her head incredulously while he answered questions.
The split screen showed Trump staring mostly straight ahead as she spoke while occasionally shaking his head.
Vice-President Harris, a Democrat, went on the offensive from the outset, goading her Republican rival and assailing him over his criminal trials and his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He turned the subject repeatedly back to inflation and immigration, political vulnerabilities for Harris, arguing that the Biden-Harris administration had “destroyed” the country and labelled her a “Marxist.”
Harris poked fun at crowd sizes at his rallies.
Saying People started leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.
Trump hit back by saying people don’t even go to her rallies as there’s no reason to go.
At one stage, when Harris interrupted Trump, he said: “I’m talking now. Does that sound familiar?” He was referring to a similar riposte she made in a 2020 vice-presidential debate election against Mike Pence.
Later, as Harris spoke over him, Trump said: “Quiet please.”
At one point, Harris mocked his praise for dictators “who would eat you for lunch”.
Trump, meanwhile, claimed that Joe Biden, the US President, dislikes Harris.
Trump also blamed heated Democratic rhetoric for the assassination attempt against him in July by a gunman whose motives are unknown.
In the hours before the debate, social media was filled with reports of unsubstantiated claims – repeated by JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, had been stealing pets and eating them.
Despite city officials telling the BBC there are no credible reports to support these claims, Trump brought up the matter in the debate.
Moderator’s abortion fact-check
Some of Harris’s most aggressive attacks on Trump came as they clashed on abortion, one of the biggest issues for Democrats since the US Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to the procedure in 2022.
Harris maintained that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government – and Donald Trump certainly – should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.
She said Trump would “sign an abortion ban” if re-elected and cited conservative states that prohibit the procedure while allowing limited exceptions.
Trump reiterated that he supports exceptions for cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk.
At one point, Trump claimed that some babies were being subjected to “executions” after birth.
One of the ABC moderators interceded to fact-check him, saying: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
Trump said Harris had no policies, accusing her of copying some of his own ideas on the campaign trial and that he was “going to send her a Maga hat”, while also arguing she would be no different from President Biden.
Harris replied by saying “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden.”
Trump, who, while the president tried to overturn to Obamacare, was asked what would be his plan now to replace the Affordable Care Act.
He said he had “concepts of a plan” that would be “something that’s better” if elected.
On the economy, an issue that opinion polls show favours Trump, Harris repeatedly stated: “I have a plan.”
Depicting her as a radical liberal, Trump responded: “She has a plan to defund the police. She has a plan to confiscate everyone’s guns. She has a plan to ban fracking in Pennsylvania and everywhere else.”
Harris denied all these and mentioned that she owned a gun.
Credit: CNN
Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe
