Harris on offence against Trump during U.S. presidential debate
Democratic nominee riled up opponent with attacks on character, reputation
Walking onto the debate stage on Tuesday night, Vice-President Kamala Harris strode over to former president Donald Trump and reached out for a handshake. It was the first time the two presidential candidates had met face to face — at a debate or otherwise.
Harris, 59, spent the next 90-odd minutes firmly on the offensive, goading Trump with jabs about his felony conviction, the size of crowds at his rallies and his reputation among world leaders.
A rattled Trump, 78, often took the bait and spent more time defending his own record than challenging his opponent. His defence included a litany of falsehoods, personal attacks and debunked misinformation — likely exactly as his opponent had hoped.
"Harris dominated," said Georgia Kernell, an associate political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in political communication.
"I think, actually, Trump hurt himself as much as she helped herself."
The stakes were high for both candidates, but the debate was Harris's best opportunity to define her candidacy and appeal to undecided voters in what polls show to be a tight race for the White House. (Her performance earned a boost from one voter in singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris to her 283 million Instagram followers almost immediately after the debate ended on ABC.)
For Trump, it was his best chance to try to chip away at Harris's campaign momentum. He repeatedly tried to paint her as a candidate who would only bring a repeat of the Biden presidency and worked to bring the conversation back to immigration, arguably one of the strongest issues with his voter base, though Harris's criticism often derailed his answers.
In a sign of confidence in Harris's performance, her campaign challenged Trump to another round in October.
Trump then took the rare step of going into the nearby "spin room" after the debate, a task usually left to political supporters, where he said the event had been his "best debate." He later told Fox News that Harris only asked for another debate "because she lost."
Throughout the event in Philadelphia, the Democratic and Republican nominees disagreed over the economy, immigration, abortion, race, foreign policy, climate change and other key issues. Each went after the other's character more as the debate progressed, staying light on policy specifics.
Harris criticized Trump's political rallies, saying attendees leave early due to "exhaustion and boredom," after which he brought up a debunked online conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating... they're eating the pets of the people that live there," said Trump.
Later asked why he had questioned Harris's racial identity in the past, Trump said, "I don't care what she is" and said he had read his opponent was not actually Black. Harris said it was a "tragedy" to see Trump use race to divide the nation.
In another exchange, Trump suggested the Democrats' rhetoric was to blame for the attempt on his life at a rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13.
"I probably took a bullet to the head for the things they say about me," Trump said.
The candidates' first exchange of the night focused on the economy and the cost of living, one of the biggest issues of the campaign and another one of Trump's strongest. Harris spoke about her middle-class upbringing in California and said she wanted to create an "opportunity economy," while saying Trump would cut taxes for the richest Americans.
In his response, Trump defended his trade policy, noting the Biden administration left his tariffs in place. He criticized Harris over inflation, said his new tariffs on foreign goods would be "substantial" and insisted plans to cut taxes would jump-start the economy.
Another question was about reproductive rights and the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that established Americans' right to an abortion. Harris was forceful in her response, saying "the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body." Harris also claimed Trump would support a national ban.
Trump said that claim was untrue, but would not answer a yes-or-no question about such a law.
Trump said he did the nation "a great service" by appointing the three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
No clear plan on Middle East
The candidates were also asked about the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Harris did not offer a clear plan to end the war in the Middle East, saying only that she would "work around the clock" to end the conflict. She instead reiterated her support for Israel, expressed horror at the death toll in Gaza and attacked Trump by saying military leaders believed him to be a disgrace.
Trump did not say how he would end the war, either, but said the conflict never would have started had he been in office. He said the same for the Russia-Ukraine file, calling Harris "weak."
Harris responded by telling Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "eat [him] for lunch."
"If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now," she said.
ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis, who moderated the debate, periodically corrected falsehoods from Trump — including his remark about the pets in Ohio and another false claim that some states allow a baby to be killed after birth.
Trump repeated his false claims that his election loss in 2020 was fraudulent.
Debate especially critical for Harris
The potential ramifications of a poor debate showing were made clear after Biden's halting performance during the previous debate on June 27, which led to his dropping from the race weeks later to make way for Harris. That however overshadowed Trump's debate performance, during which he offered a litany of untruths and refused to condemn the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Kernell, the political scientist, said a strong debate doesn't usually win a campaign the same way a poor performance can end one — but this event was unusually critical for Harris.
In her first presidential debate and the longest unscripted event of her campaign to date, the Democratic nominee faced a TV audience not only listening for her policies but watching how she handled a bombastic opponent who often speaks with little regard for facts.
"We hadn't seen these two meet. We hadn't seen her ever debate as a presidential candidate. She's been the candidate for such a short amount of time... it was really important for her to show that she is presidential, that she has a clear plan and that she can lead this country," said Kernell.
"I think in that sense, she probably will get a boost."
By contrast, Trump has been on the presidential debate stage seven times and already has a loyal base whose feelings haven't been swayed by two impeachments, several indictments and a felony conviction.
The two nominees are effectively tied in the seven battleground states likely to decide the election, according to polling averages compiled by the New York Times.
There are 56 days until U.S. voters head to the polls on Nov. 5. A vice-presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 1.
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With files from Reuters