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PHILADELPHIA: Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump met Tuesday for their first and possibly last debate, and with polls showing a tight race, the debate could have significant implications for the Nov. 5 election.

The conclusions from the discussion are as follows:

upset one's rival

Harris tried to provoke Trump, as her camp expected.

She urged viewers to attend Trump's rallies, mocking Trump for making outlandish claims that windmills cause cancer (he actually did) and for leaving because attendees were tired and bored.

Trump, who prides himself on the crowds he attracts, is clearly upset.

“My rally is the biggest rally in political history, the most incredible rally,” he said, accusing Harris of bringing attendees to the rally on buses.

Trump then made the false claim in Springfield, Ohio, that illegal immigrants were killing and eating people's pets, an unproven claim that was circulated on social media and amplified by Trump's vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance.

“In Springfield, they're eating dogs! People are coming in and eating cats!” Trump said. “They're eating the pets of the people who live there.”

Springfield city officials have denied the reports, and ABC hosts pointed them out after Trump's remarks.

“That’s extreme,” Harris replied, laughing.

Defensive play

Another goal for Harris, a former California prosecutor, was to criticize Trump's past actions, particularly his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

An hour into the debate, her strategy seemed to be working. Trump remained defensive.

When asked about the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he claimed he had “nothing to do with it, other than they asked me to speak.” He also falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election.

Harris used Trump's actions to argue that the country needs to move forward.

“Donald Trump has been fired by 81 million people. Let’s be clear about that. He’s clearly having a hard time dealing with it, but we cannot afford to have a president of the United States who would try to overturn the will of the voters in a free and fair election like we have in the past,” Harris said.

The vice president was more aggressive in his criticism of Trump, calling world leaders “laughing” at him and calling him a disgrace. Trump used the phrase at the rally to refer to his views on how other countries view President Joe Biden.

Minutes later, Trump exploded, claiming Harris had “not received a single vote” in her bid to win the Democratic nomination and suggesting she was trying to replace Biden as part of some kind of coup.
“He hates her,” Trump said of Biden. “He can’t stand her.”

The exchange may have helped Harris' argument that Trump lacks the “character” to be president.

Racial division

As the debate deepened, long-simmering racial issues were raised, with Trump being asked why he had publicly questioned Harris’ dual heritage as a Black and South Asian woman.

“I don't care what she is,” he replied. “I read that she's black. And I read that she's not black.”

Asked to respond, Harris accused Trump of using race to divide Americans throughout his career. She cited Trump and his father’s refusal to accept black tenants in the 1970s and Trump’s role in leading public protests over the wrongful conviction of five black and Latino men for assaulting a jogger in New York’s Central Park in 1989.

Harris noted that he had more recently publicly questioned whether President Barack Obama was a U.S. citizen.

“I think it's a tragedy that someone who wants to be president has spent his entire career trying to divide the American people on the basis of race,” she said.

“I think the American people want better than that,” Harris added. “We don’t want a leader who is constantly trying to get the American people to point fingers at each other.”

Instead of defending his own record, Trump turned to the economy and tried to blame Biden’s economic policies on Harris. “She’s trying to get away from Biden,” he said.

Harris used the attack to once again position himself as an agent of change.

“To be clear, I am not Joe Biden, and I am not Donald Trump,” Harris said, adding, “What I am offering is a new generation of leadership for our country.”

handshake

Before the debate, questions were raised about how Harris and Trump, who had never met before, would greet each other.

Harris certainly nailed it. She approached Trump on the podium, extended her hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris.”

The way Harris approached the man who had been insulting her for weeks about her race and gender was disarming.

The debate about the economy

After the debate began, Trump and Harris engaged in a fierce battle over the economy, one of the top concerns of voters.

Harris detailed the economic policies she has rolled out in recent weeks, including a significant tax credit for small startups. Trump focused his rhetoric on tariffs, saying he would protect the U.S. economy from unfair foreign competition.

While both sides attacked, Harris was the first to speak out on a topic that lags behind Trump in terms of voter trust. She seemed to be pushing the former president to the back burner, and Trump essentially got defensive on one of his strongest issues.

“She doesn’t have a plan,” Trump said after Harris’ opening remarks. “It’s like, run, Spot, run.”

Division over abortion

The two candidates also debated fiercely on the abortion issue, where polls showed Harris leading.

Trump defended the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that would end constitutional protections for abortion and send the issue back to the states, falsely claiming that this was the outcome both Republicans and Democrats wanted. Democrats have long supported a constitutional right to abortion.

“It was a huge help to do that,” Trump said. “It took courage to do that.”

President Trump claimed that some states allow abortions after birth, a point ABC News anchor Lindsey Davis corrected.

Harris expressed outrage at Trump's assertion that abortion has become a states' rights issue because it is a popular outcome, citing states that have passed limited bans.

“Is this what people wanted?” Harris asked. “People being denied emergency room treatment because they were afraid of being dragged off to jail?”

Trump was asked whether he would veto a federal abortion ban if it were passed by Congress. He insisted that would never happen, but declined to answer the question definitively.

The world is different

One of the most contentious policy debates came when Trump and Harris clashed over how to handle Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The candidates' answers showed how fundamentally different their views on America's role in the world are.

President Trump denied saying he wanted Ukraine to win the war, but ABC host David Muir pressed the point, saying only that he wanted to end the conflict as quickly as possible.

Harris countered, arguing that what Trump really wants is Ukraine's swift and unconditional surrender.

“If Donald Trump were president, (Vladimir) Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now,” Harris said.

'Weaponized Justice

In a heated debate, Trump and Harris accused each other of conspiring to “weaponize” the Justice Department against their enemies.

Trump has said that his indictment for conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election loss and mishandling of classified documents, as well as his conviction for falsifying documents related to payments to porn stars, were all the result of a conspiracy orchestrated by Harris and Biden. There is no evidence to support that claim.

Harris fired back, pointing out that Trump had promised to prosecute his opponents if he won a second term.

“You have to understand that this is a man who has openly stated that he would abolish the Constitution,” Harris said.

The exchange underscored how Harris and Trump view the stakes of this election as existential: Both see the other as a threat to democracy itself.