Eight weeks before the US elections, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris are now facing each other in the presidential debate. At the beginning of the debate, Harris and Trump shook hands after being introduced on stage, ending an eight-year streak without a handshake on the presidential debate stage.
Interestingly, it is also the first time that the two leaders have met, and Ms Harris made a point of introducing herself to Mr Trump.
Asked to answer a question about the economy and the cost of living, an issue that is on voters’ minds, Ms Harris talked about her middle-class background and her plans to support families and small businesses if she were elected to the top office. She attacked Mr Trump, saying he would give tax breaks to “billionaires and big corporations” and also reminded viewers of the state he left the economy in when Joe Biden took office. At one point Ms Harris said: “Donald Trump has no plan for you.”
As the debate heated up, Trump began attacking Harris over the Biden administration’s immigration policies, to which Harris responded, “You’re going to hear the same old, tired old stuff: a bunch of lies, complaints and name-calling.”
“Let’s talk about what Donald Trump left us with. Donald Trump left us with the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. Donald Trump left us with the worst health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us with the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess,” she said.
At one point, Trump switched to a personal attack. “She’s a Marxist. Her father was a Marxist.” Harris was seen smiling the entire time. The former president lamented that he did not get enough credit for the “great job” he did during the Covid pandemic. “We did a phenomenal job during the pandemic,” he said.
When Harris got to the core issue of abortion, she warned that Donald Trump would ban abortion if he became president again. “She’s lying,” he replied. Trump seemed at a loss when asked whether he would veto a national abortion ban. He said such a bill would not pass Congress.
As the focus shifted to immigration, Harris said Trump would talk a lot about the issue. She invited people to attend Trump’s rallies because it was “really interesting to watch.” She said at the former president’s rallies, he would talk about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter and people began leaving his rallies because they were bored. An angry Trump responded that no one goes to Harris’ rallies. Trump then began talking about a social media conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating dogs. Harris laughed and shook her head.
