Harris and Trump faced off for the first time in a fiery debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night, less than two months until the November election.
Democratic nominee Harris said Trump would ‘arm the Justice Department against political enemies’.
Republican nominee Trump fired back: ‘I might have taken a bullet in the head because of the things they said about me.
‘They talk about democracy – I am a threat to democracy. He is a threat to democracy, with the Russia, Russia, Russia investigation that doesn’t exist.’
The night began on a tense note with Harris briefly introducing Trump and the two shaking hands. Then Harris walked to the lectern to the right of the TV screen and Trump to the left.
The candidates are quick to take shots, matching each other’s energy in attack.
Harris links Trump to ‘dangerous’ conservatives Project 2025, prompting Trump to say again, ‘I have nothing to do with Project 2025’.
The vice president said the Biden administration needed to ‘clean up Donald Trump’s mess’ and falsely claimed that Trump had left the country with ‘the worst unemployment since the Great Depression’.
Trump claimed Harris had ‘no policy’ and ‘he’s a Marxist, everybody knows he’s a Marxist’.
Speaking on immigration, Harris said Trump supporters left the rally because they were ‘tired and bored’.
Trump then brought up a conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants are eating dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Harris shook his head, laughed and seemed to say, ‘What?’
The moderator, World News Tonight anchor David Muir, told Trump that Harris had recently ‘turned black’ and asked why he was bringing up the race.
“Whatever they want is fine with me,” Trump said.
Harris called it a ‘tragedy’ that Trump is ‘trying to use race to divide people’.
Trump said “he’s Biden” and tied Harris to inflation during the Biden administration.
Harris responded by believing himself to be able to provide a brighter future for America.
“Obviously I’m not Joe Biden, and I’m not Donald Trump,” he said. ‘What I offer is a new generation of leadership for our country… a sense of optimism instead of always looking down on the American people.’
Harris claimed that foreign leaders called Trump a ‘disgrace’ and that dictators wanted him to win the election so they could trick him with ‘flattery and favors’.
In his closing statement, Harris said America can choose between a candidate focused on the future – himself – and one focused on the past, referring to Trump.
“I only have one client, man,” he said. ‘People who care about you and don’t put themselves first. I want to be president for all Americans.’
Trump said Harris used his closing statement to list his remaining promises.
‘Why didn’t they do it? He had been there for three and a half years. It has been three and a half years for them to fix the border,” he said.
Trump added that Harris believed in ‘things that the American people don’t believe in’.
‘I just ask one simple question: Why didn’t he do it?’ said.
Trump mentioned many wars and said ‘we will end the third world war and it will be a war like no other because of nuclear weapons’.
He concluded: ‘The worst president, the worst vice president in the history of our country.’
The candidates thanked the moderator and walked to the opposite side without exchanging a word.
It is the only debate that both candidates have agreed to go far and one is critical given how close the race stands.
The candidates are neck-and-neck in the polls, as Harris enjoys a post-Presidential honeymoon period Joe Biden ended his campaign, but has seen a rise in the polls.
Harris and Trump stand six feet tall.
The debate will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.
There was no live audience watching the debate and ABC News decided the microphone would be muted while the opponent spoke.
Hours before the debate kicked off, some bookmakers said Harris was the favorite to win the debate.
Star Sports and Action Network announced a 1/3, or 75%, chance that Harris would win the debate over Trump.
At 6.45pm, Harris posted a graphic comparing himself to Trump, with the caption, ‘In this election, Americans have a choice.’ He stated that he will grow the middle class while Trump ‘plans to take power unchecked’.
Shortly before, Trump shared two AI cat memes, the first of which was a cat wearing a Make America Great Again hat and holding a gun. The second is ourselves on a plane surrounded by cats and ducks. They are an obvious reference to the right-wing false rumor about Haitian immigrants in Ohio killing and eating pets.
The debate is scheduled to last 90 minutes. It will be closely watched by voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, a must-win for both candidates.
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