Tracking the attacks in the first Harris-Trump debate

The New York Times tracked speaking time during the only scheduled debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump. We broke it down by topic and measured how much time the candidates spent attacking each other.

Speaking time in minutes and length of attacks

The debate was supposed to last 90 minutes, so the candidates used their time at the microphone.

This was the first direct confrontation between Ms Harris and Mr Trump. It was also the first debate since President Biden dropped out of the race after his disastrous performance against Mr Trump in June.

With just 56 days left until Election Day, the debate offered voters an important opportunity to get to know Ms. Harris. In the latest national poll by The New York Times and Siena College, 28 percent of likely voters said they needed to know more about Ms. Harris; only 9 percent said the same about Mr. Trump.

What topics were discussed the most?

How much time the candidates spent talking about 15 key issues and how much time they spent attacking their opponents on those issues, sorted by total time spent.

How Harris’ performance differed from Biden’s

Percent of time Ms Harris spent on 15 key issues compared to Mr Biden at the June presidential debate.

Comparing today’s attacks with previous debates

Percent of time candidates spent attacking each other’s policies and character.