On September 10th the two presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, faced off at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The debate was around 90 minutes long and was moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News. This debate (at the time of publication) is the only time that the two presidential candidates are scheduled to face off before the election.
Harris opened with an unusual move of offering to shake hands with Trump to open up the debate, a gesture that usually takes place at the end. The debate itself opened up with questions on the current economy where Harris emphasized her policy for an “opportunity economy” and highlighted a $50,000 tax deduction for small businesses. She also discussed her support for young families with a child tax credit to aid families in the first year of their child’s life. Trump discussed his plan in which a 10% tariff would be imposed on all imported goods and a 60% tariff would be added on goods imported from China. Harris responded that this would essentially be a “Sales Tax” on American households and that her plans had been approved by the best economists in the world. Meanwhile, according to Harris, Trump has been labeled as bad for the economy by high-end firms including Wharton and Goldman Sachs. AP News found that while Wharton did find that his spending plans would significantly expand the deficit (spending exceeding saving) by 5.8 trillion over ten years, Harris’ would also increase it by 1.2 trillion over the same period.
Abortion was another issue discussed within the debate, and has been labeled a key topic in the election overall. Trump mostly focused on defending the overturning of Roe v. Wade, arguing that it supported states’ control over abortion laws. There was also the moment that went viral from this segment of the debate when Trump claimed that Democrats support abortions after birth and that they are “executing babies.” He doubled down on Harris’ role within it, saying that she supported abortions at nine months.
The moderators made it clear to Trump during the debate that there is no state that supports “executing” babies post-birth, as that would qualify as infanticide. Only eight states permit abortions at nine months, and the CDC states that only 0.9% of U.S. abortions happened past 21 weeks in 2021 (AP News). Harris has never specifically stated a cutoff where it becomes unacceptable to get an abortion.
Immigration was also a constant discussion topic during the debate. Trump insisted that immigrants are the reason why crime rates in the U.S are increasing, and he blamed the Biden administration for being too lenient. He believes that other countries’ crime rates are going down because they are sending criminals to America. Fact checkers found studies that disproved Trump’s claim. Researchers from Stanford University found that since the 1960s, immigrants have been 60% less likely to be incarcerated than people born in the U.S. The Cato Institute found undocumented immigrants in Texas were 37% less likely to be convicted of a crime. He also went on to make claims that later went viral online, stating that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio have been eating the dogs and cats of the people who live there. During the debate this was fact-checked, and according to the Springfield City Manager, no pets have been harmed. Harris rebutted Trump’s criticisms of how immigration has been controlled the past four years and reminded him of the time when the U.S. Congress came up with a border security bill that she supported. It added security and aid to the border and would have prevented drugs like Fentanyl from crossing the border. Donald Trump told his allies to kill the bill, which he has taken credit for doing.
Harris is focusing on expanding the Affordable Care Act, capping drug prices, and ensuring healthcare access as a right while Trump claimed to have a plan to replace Obamacare but did not provide specifics.[/pullquote]Aside from these key topics there was also a lot of discussion about healthcare, climate change, foreign policy, and a peaceful transfer of power. Harris is focusing on expanding the Affordable Care Act, capping drug prices, and ensuring healthcare access as a right while Trump claimed to have a plan to replace Obamacare but did not provide specifics. Harris is proud of investing in clean energy while also making sure that Americans have diverse sources of energy to stop relying on foreign oil. While it was not as clear what Trump stood for regarding climate change, he told viewers that if Harris won she would ban fracking and destroy fossil fuel production. She stated during the debate that this is not true as one of her key policies is continuing support for the American energy industry (which includes fracking). Trump has been greatly criticized for his involvement in the January 6th riots and in the debate he continued to defend his actions and question election integrity. Harris accused Trump of inciting violence and undermining democracy. When it comes to foreign policy, Trump claims that if elected he could end the Russian-Ukraine war in 24 hours and would have been able to prevent both the Ukraine war and current Middle East conflicts. He accuses Harris of being weak on foreign policy. Meanwhile, Harris defends the administration’s efforts to support Ukraine and Israel and criticizes Trump’s relationships with authoritarian leaders.
The debate wrapped up with closing statements in which Harris emphasized the two very different versions of the country presented that night, affirming that her only client ever has been the people and together we can chart a new way forward. Trump concluded by criticizing Harris for the lack of action that she has taken during her term as Vice President and by stating that her views do not align with the people’s. He also continued to build on the idea that America is declining as a country.
