What happened during the debate?published at 20:17 British Summer Time
Graeme Baker
Report from Washington DC
Image source, EPAHarris and Trump met on Tuesday night – literally for the first time: The vice president walked across the stage to introduce herself to the former president as he approached his podium.
“Kamala Harris,” said the Democrat, offering her a handshake. “Let’s have a good debate.”
“Nice to see you. Have fun,” the Republican replied.
Harris went on the offensive from the start, provoking her rival with barbs about his criminal trials and calling his campaign rallies boring, while Trump blamed the Democrats’ heated rhetoric for the attempted assassination of him by a gunman whose motives are still unknown.
“I probably got a bullet in the head because of the things they said about me,” he said.
The two argued about the economy, abortion and health care. One of the most memorable moments of the evening came during discussions about immigration, when Trump repeated unsubstantiated claims that Haitian migrants had stolen and eaten pets in Springfield, Ohio.
“They eat the dogs, they eat the cats, they eat the pets of the people who live there,” Trump said. However, city officials told the BBC that there were no credible reports to support these claims.
“This is really extreme,” Harris said of her rival.
