Kamala Harris and Donald Trump clashed the first presidential debate Tuesday in Philadelphia, less than two months before Election Day.
Going into the debate, Harris seemed to have more to gain and more to lose. A New York Times/Siena College survey 28% said they should “learn more about Kamala Harris,” compared to only 9% who said the same about Trump. Overall, Trump leads Harris by 1 point among likely voters, with 5% not sure or not supporting.
The debate covered a wide range of issues and there were a number of heated exchanges between the two bitter rivals. Harris presented himself as a pragmatic problem-solver and portrayed Trump as a wannabe dictator who failed to attract rally crowds. Trump attacked Harris in a radical way and often returned to the theme of criticizing immigration, conspiracy theories.
Here are six key takeaways from the discussions.
Harris is quick to cut costs
Harris used the first question his plan It works for an “opportunity economy”. cut off Trump’s advantage in the matter Swing voters by presenting himself as the candidate of the middle class while calling Trump a corporate tax cut.
“I grew up a middle-class kid, and I’m actually the only person on this stage with a plan to uplift the middle class and working people of America,” Harris said. “We know we have a shortage of homes and housing and the cost of housing is too high for too many people. We know that young families need help raising children, and I intend to extend the tax cut for those families. $6,000, that’s our long-term is the largest child tax credit we have given so that those young families have the opportunity to buy cribs, car seats, and clothes for their children.
Trump blasted the Biden-Harris economy, saying, “I’ve never seen a worse period.” He also defended his tariff plans and called Harris a “Marxist,” even accusing him of copying his policies: “I was going to send him a MAGA hat.”
Both candidates seek the mantle of change
In the first minutes, both opponents were eager for it mantle claim in a country full of voters hungry for change.
“In tonight’s debate, you’re going to hear from the same old, tired playbook: a bunch of lies, complaints and name-calling,” Harris said of Trump. a dangerous plan called Project 2025, which the former president intends to implement if elected.”
Harris returned to this message later in the debate: “The American people are tired of the same old, tired playbook.” He later returned to the topic, criticizing Trump for inciting the January 6 riots.
“Let’s turn the page on this. Let’s not go back,” he said.
Trump has tried to portray Harris as President Joe Biden’s successor on immigration and the economy.
Regarding the migrants who came to the United States illegally, he said: “These are the people that he and Biden brought to our country and they are destroying our country. They are dangerous.”
On the economy, he said: “He copied Biden’s plan. And that’s four sentences. Run, Spot, run.”
As Harris defends policy changes, Trump attacks
A significant weakness for Harris in the campaign were the left-wing positions he held as the 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner, which he has since abandoned or scaled back — such as banning fracking, mandating the buyback of semi-automatic firearms and decriminalizing border crossings. to do He was again asked about his evolution.
“I made it very clear in 2020, I’m not going to ban fracking,” Harris said. “I did not ban fracking as vice president. In fact, I tied for the vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking, an environmentally controversial method of extracting oil and natural gas.
Harris added: “My values haven’t changed.”
Trump tried to capitalize.
“He wants to perform transsexual surgeries on illegal aliens in prison. It is the radical left liberal who does this. He wants to confiscate your guns and will never allow fracking in Pennsylvania,” he said. “If he wins the election, the scam in Pennsylvania will be over on day one.”
Trump avoids vetoing federal abortion ban
Trump and Harris engaged in a long-running clash over abortion, during which Trump twice refused to say he would veto a federal abortion ban if Congress passed it.
“Well, I won’t have to,” Trump replied. He said he would not “sign” such a ban because there was “no reason” and because “everyone” should have Roe v. Wade claimed he was happy with the termination.
When his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, said he would veto such a ban, Trump contradicted Vance. gave his comments “Meet the Press” recently on NBC News.
“Well, I haven’t discussed it with JD, in all fairness. JD — and I don’t mind if he has a certain view, but I don’t think he speaks for me,” he said, arguing with Congress. will not pass any major abortion bill.
Harris said, “I promise you: Congress passed Roe v. When a bill is passed to restore Wade’s protection as President of the United States, I will proudly sign the bill. But understand that if Donald Trump were re-elected, he would sign a national abortion ban.”
Harris drags Trump into missed opportunities
Harris entered the debate hoping to confuse Trump, and he succeeded at some points, putting him on the defensive instead of highlighting his strongest issue: concerns about inflation and the cost of living.
He has attacked him on abortion rights, linked him to the right-wing political project Project 2025 and highlighted his praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping around the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Both times he jumped in to defend himself. He invited Americans to watch Trump’s rally.
“He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about ‘windmills cause cancer’. And what you’re going to see is people start leaving his rallies early because they’re tired and bored,” Harris said looking into the camera.
That didn’t go down well with Trump, who said he had “the most incredible rallies in the history of politics” and went on a rampage citing a debunked conspiracy theory that some migrants eat their pets. “They eats dogspeople who come in eat the cats,” he said.
Trump insulted Biden, prompting a sharp response from Harris
Trump’s performance included extensive attacks on Biden, who left after his disastrous debate against Trump in late June. He criticized Biden’s handling of classified documents, slammed him for opposing the Keystone XL pipeline and called the Biden administration “the most divisive presidency in the history of our country.”
“Where is our president?” We don’t even know if he is the president,” Trump said at the end of the debate. “They kicked him out of the campaign like a dog. We don’t even know. Is he our president? We have a president who does not know he is alive.”
Harris responded: “It’s important to remind the former president: You’re not running against Joe Biden; you run against me.’
When Trump later said, “He’s Biden,” Harris responded, “Obviously, I’m not Joe Biden. And I’m certainly not Donald Trump.”