As the debate began, Harris came to Trump’s stage to extend his hand and the two briefly shook hands. With this symbolic gesture, the debate officially began, marking a significant moment in this election cycle.
The debate comes months after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the election on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Harris.
See here who said what-
economy
Kamala Harris, facing White House scrutiny over the economy, described her upbringing as a “middle class kid” and expressed her commitment to promoting an “opportunity economy.” She strongly condemned President Trump’s policies and argued that they would increase the financial burden on the American people. She said, “I believe in the ambition, aspiration and dreams of the American people.” She promoted her plans to create an “opportunity economy”, including her proposals to make housing more affordable and expand the child tax credit.
Kamala Harris said her administration will have to “clean up Donald Trump’s mess” after his four-year tenure in the White House.
he alleged trump He has been accused of leaving America with “the worst unemployment since the Great Depression”, “the worst assault on our democracy since the Civil War” and “the worst public health pandemic in a century”.
Meanwhile, former President Trump refuted Harris’ claim that he intends to impose a “sales tax” on everyday items, calling her claim a “false statement.”
“She knows we’re putting tariffs on other countries. Other countries are ultimately going to pay us back after 75 years for all the things we’ve done to the world,” Trump explained.
He further explained, “And in some cases the tariffs will be quite high. As you know, I’ve taken billions and trillions of dollars from China. In fact, they never removed the tariffs because it was too much money.”
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Abortion rights
Kamala Harris criticized Trump’s stance on abortion rights, saying he should not dictate what a woman does with her body. She expressed her support for reinstating Roe v Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that previously protected abortion rights nationwide.
Harris highlighted the consequences of Trump’s abortion restrictions, which have been implemented in more than 20 states. These restrictions criminalize healthcare providers such as doctors and nurses who provide abortion services. In one state, the punishment for providing such care can be life imprisonment. Shockingly, these restrictions make no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
“Trump’s abortion ban makes no exceptions, even for rape and incest, meaning that a survivor of a crime where her body was violated does not have the right to make decisions about her own body,” Harris said.
Trump-Harris full ABC debate: Fiery attacks and personal sarcasm | Putin | Israel-Hamas war
She denounced the immorality of the restrictions, saying that no one needed to compromise their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government, and Donald Trump in particular, should not have the right to control women’s bodily autonomy.
“Next, it is immoral, and one does not have to give up one’s faith or deeply held beliefs to agree with the government, and Donald Trump certainly should not tell a woman what she should do with her body,” Harris stressed. She promised to sign legislation that would restore the protections provided by Roe v. Wade if Congress approves such a measure.
Trump expressed his stance on abortion in a video released in April on his Truthout social platform, saying that “the states will decide through a vote or legislation, or maybe both, and whatever they decide should be the law of the land.” This stance is in line with the recently updated Republican National Committee platform.
Notably, the platform makes no mention of a nationwide ban on abortion, a policy that some social conservative factions had hoped to see included. However, Trump has openly expressed his opposition to such a ban on the federal level, instead favoring leaving the decision up to individual states.
Donald Trump described Kamala Harris as a “Marxist” and said that her father was also a Marxist professor. It is worth mentioning that he was a retired economist from Stanford University.
“If she’s ever elected, she’ll change that. And that will be the end of our country. She’s a Marxist; everybody knows she’s a Marxist. Her father is a Marxist professor of economics, and he gave her a good education,” Trump said.
Immigration policies
Donald Trump criticized Kamala Harris and the Biden administration over illegal immigration into the US and claimed that she is destroying the country. “She is destroying this country. If she becomes president, we will become Venezuela on steroids,” said Donald Trump.
He said, “You see what’s happening in cities across America. You look at Springfield, Ohio. You look at Aurora, Colorado, they’re taking over cities. They’re taking over buildings. They’re breaking in violently. These are the people that he and Biden brought into our country and they’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous. They’re at the highest level of crime. And we have to get them out.”
Meanwhile, Harris has begun trying to respond to Trump’s attacks on her immigration record during his campaign and outlined her own policies.
Donald Trump again claimed that Haitian immigrants are stealing pets from his homes and consuming them.
He said, “In Springfield they’re eating dogs, cats. They’re eating the pets of people who live there. We’re going to end up like Venezuela on steroids.” However, the ABC News anchor corrected him, saying he contacted the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, and he denied all reports of attacks on pets.
Capitol Riot
Asked about expressing regret over the January 6 riots, Trump said he had offered then-White House Speaker Nancy Pelosi troops to fight the rioters, but she had refused to accept it.
“I have nothing to do with this except that they asked me to give a speech. Nancy Pelosi is entirely responsible for this.”
Reacting to Trump’s comments on the Capitol attack, the Vice President said, “I was at the Capitol on January 6. The President of the United States incited a violent mob to desecrate our nation’s Capitol.”
“140 law enforcement officers were injured that day, and some were killed,” he said. “And understand that the former president was indicted and impeached for exactly that reason. But this is not an isolated situation.”
Policy Israel
Former President Trump again claimed that Israel will be destroyed under Kamala’s administration. “She hates Israel. She didn’t even meet Netanyahu when he came to Congress. She also hates the Arab population. Look at what is happening in the Middle East. This would never have happened if I were president.”
Denying her claims, the Vice President said, “That is simply not true. I have spent my entire career and life supporting Israel and the Israeli people.”
He also said Israel “has a right to defend itself,” adding that “we will do so” if the US is attacked. The vice president advocated a “two-state solution.”
Policy Russia–Ukraine War
When asked if he wanted Ukraine to win the war against Russia, Trump replied, “I want the war to stop and lives to be saved,” and refused to take any sides between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the vice president claimed that if Trump became president, Russian President Vladimir Putin would be sitting in Ukraine.
Kamala said, “I think why Donald Trump says this war will end in 24 hours is because he will leave it. If Trump were the President, Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now.”
“Putin will be sitting in Kiev and he will have his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland,” Harris said. “How quickly do you give in to partisanship and end up befriending a dictator who will eat you for lunch?”
Harris said it’s an example of why America’s NATO allies are grateful he’s no longer in office, as she and Biden have sent billions of dollars to help Kiev fend off Russian aggression.
Gun policy
Trump claimed the vice president has a plan to confiscate everyone’s guns. Refuting the claims, Harris said, “Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking away anybody’s guns, so stop constantly lying about that.”
Racial divisions
Most of the discussion about Harris was about her ethnicity and race. Earlier in several rallies, Trump had provoked Harris for being a black and Asian woman.
Responding to why he publicly questioned Harris’ dual heritage as a Black and South Asian woman, Trump said, “I don’t care what she is… I read that she was Black. Then I read that she wasn’t Black.”
When asked to respond, Harris accused Trump of using race to divide Americans throughout his career. She recalled how she and her father had driven away black tenants in the 1970s and how Trump led a public outcry against five young black and Latino men wrongly convicted of attacking a jogger in New York City’s Central Park in 1989.
Harris said he had recently openly questioned whether President Barack Obama was an American citizen.
“I think it’s a tragedy that we have a man who wants to be president, but who throughout his career has consistently tried to use race to divide the American people,” she said.
Harris stressed that the American people deserve better than a leader who constantly encourages citizens to point fingers at each other. “I think the American people deserve better than that,” Harris said. “We don’t want a leader who constantly encourages Americans to point fingers at each other.”
In response to the criticism, Trump focused on economic matters and attempted to link Biden’s economic policies to Harris, suggesting she is trying to distance herself from Biden. “She’s trying to take away from Biden,” he said.
Taking advantage of the opportunity provided by the attack, Harris positioned herself as a transformational leader for the nation, emphasizing her unique identity and leadership style. “Clearly, I’m not Joe Biden, and I’m certainly not Donald Trump, and what I offer is a new generation of leadership for our country,” Harris said.
