Harris and Trump spar on economy, abortion, immigration in high-stakes US presidential debate

Philadelphia - Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump faced off in

a potentially game-changing televised debate

on Sept 10 (Sept 11, Singapore time), less than two months ahead of the knife-edge US presidential election.

Ms Harris put Trump on the defensive at a combative presidential debate with a stream of attacks on abortion limits, his fitness for office and his myriad legal woes, as both candidates sought a campaign-altering moment in their closely fought election.

A former prosecutor, Ms Harris appeared to get under the former president’s skin repeatedly, prompting a visibly angry Trump to deliver a series of falsehood-filled retorts.

At one point, she brought up Trump’s campaign rallies, goading him by saying that people often leave early “out of exhaustion and boredom”.

Trump, who has been frustrated by the size of Ms Harris’ own crowds, said: “My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

Surprise handshake

The pair entered the venue in the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia, meeting in person for the first time at the ABC News-hosted debate in Philadelphia. Then they shook hands – to the surprise of many – before heading to their podiums.

But the niceties soon ended.

Within minutes, 78-year-old Trump called her a “Marxist” and falsely claimed that she and President Joe Biden had allowed “millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums”.

Ms Harris, 59, responded to much of Trump’s extreme language by smiling and shaking her head, before hitting back, pointing out that he is a convicted felon and calling him “extreme”.

The candidates clashed over issues such as immigration, foreign policy and healthcare, but the debate was light on specific policy details. Instead, Ms Harris’ aggressive approach succeeded in putting the focus on Trump.

Trump, who has spent weeks launching personal attacks on Ms Harris, largely avoided insults during the debate’s early moments but became increasingly agitated under her offensive.

Trump was asked by the moderators about one of those attacks, when he told an event with black journalists in July that Ms Harris had recently “become a black person”.

“I couldn’t care less,” he said. “Whatever she wants to be is okay with me.”

Ms Harris, who has both black and South Asian heritage, responded, “I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people.”

She had to remind her election rival during their debate that he was no longer running against Mr Biden, a longstanding nemesis that the Republican frequently still criticises despite his withdrawal.

“It’s important to remind the former president, you’re not running against Joe Biden, you’re running against me,” she said after the Democratic president came up during the debate.

Immigration: Trump repeats debunked ‘cat-eating’ story

Trump in his opening remarks criticised Ms Harris over the border, pointing to Springfield, Ohio, a town where an influx of Haitian immigrants has spurred widespread coverage, particularly in conservative outlets.

Migrants “are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings. They’re going in violently”, he said, in a bid to pivot the conversation to immigration policy, another issue where polls show voters disapprove of the Biden administration’s response.

He vilified immigrants, repeating debunked claims that the Haitian arrivals in Ohio were “eating the cats” of residents.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs – the people that came in – they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country,” Trump said, contradicting the Springfield city manager, who said such accusations had no basis in fact.

Harris grills Trump on abortion ‘lies’

Their most intense exchange was on abortion, with Trump insisting that while having pushed for the end of the federal right to abortion, he wanted individual states to make their own policy.

She delivered a lengthy attack on abortion limits, speaking passionately about women denied emergency care and victims of incest unable to terminate their pregnancies due to statewide bans that have proliferated since the US Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right in 2022. Three Trump appointees were in the majority of that ruling.

She also claimed Trump would support a national ban, an assertion Trump called a lie.

Trump, who has sometimes struggled with messaging on abortion, claimed falsely that Ms Harris and Democrats support infanticide, which - as debate moderator Linsey Davis noted - is illegal in every state.

“As I said, you’re going to hear a bunch of lies,” Ms Harris said, calling his policies “insulting to the women of America”.

Ms Harris also sought to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that proposes expanding executive power, eliminating environmental regulations and making it illegal to ship abortion pills across state lines, among other right-wing goals.

Trump retorted that he has “nothing to do” with Project 2025, though some of his advisers were involved in its creation.

World leaders ‘laughing’ at Trump: Harris

Ms Harris accused Trump of being an international laughing stock easily manipulated by some of the world’s “worst” leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, as the pair traded barbs on foreign policy.

“I have travelled the world as vice-president of the United States, and world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump. I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you’re a disgrace,” she said, addressing him directly.

The candidates also exchanged barbs over the Israel-Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, though neither offered specifics on how they would seek to end each conflict.

Ms Harris accused Trump of being willing to abandon US support for Ukraine to curry favour with Russian President Putin, calling Trump a “disgrace,” while Trump claimed Ms Harris “hates” Israel - an assertion she rejected.

She also slammed Trump for not protecting American interests against China, and criticised his public praise for Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Under Donald Trump’s presidency, he ended up selling American chips to China to help them improve and modernise their military,” she said.

“Policy about China should be making sure the United States of America wins the competition for the 21st century,” Ms Harris added, claiming that Trump “sold us out” during his time in office.

Sparring on economic plans

Trump said during the televised debate that his Democratic rival had no economic plans of her own, and had copied President Biden’s policies.

Dismissing Trump’s boast that he had unprecedented successes as president, Ms Harris said that in reality, “what we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess”.

Ms Harris attacked Trump’s intention to impose high tariffs on foreign goods - a proposal she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class - while touting her plan to offer tax benefits to families and small businesses.

“Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression,” she said, referring to his years as president from 2017-2021. Unemployment peaked at 14.8 per cent in April 2020 and at 6.4 per cent when he left office. It was far higher in the Great Depression.

Trump criticised Ms Harris for the persistent inflation during the Biden administration’s term, though he overstated the level of price increases.

Inflation, he said, “has been a disaster for people, for the middle class, for every class”.

Trump refused to recognise his defeat in the 2020 election as the topic turned to his false voter fraud claims.

He claimed he was being sarcastic when he appeared to concede defeat recently, adding: “Look, there’s so much proof. All you have to do is look at it... I got almost 75 million votes, the most votes any sitting president has ever gotten.”

Chance to change narrative

Ms Harris criticised Trump over his criminal conviction for covering up hush money payments to a porn star as well as his other indictments and a civil judgment finding him liable for sexual assault.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and again accused Ms Harris and the Democrats of orchestrating all of the cases without evidence.

With eight weeks to go before the Nov 5 election, and days until early voting starts in some states, the debate - the only one scheduled - presented both opportunities and risks for each candidate in front of a televised audience of tens of millions of voters.

Presidential debates do not necessarily change voters’ minds, but they can transform the dynamics of a race. Mr Biden’s poor performance against Trump in June led him to abandon his campaign on July 21.

In a contest that could again come down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states, even a small shift in public opinion could alter the outcome. The two candidates are effectively tied in seven battleground states likely to decide the election, according to polling averages compiled by The New York Times.

The debate, hosted by ABC News, was taking place at the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia. As agreed by the campaigns, there was no live audience and candidates’ microphones were muted when it was not their turn to speak.

Ms Harris’ campaign challenged Trump to a second presidential debate, minutes after their encounter in Philadelphia ended.

“Under the bright lights, the American people got to see the choice they will face this fall at the ballot box: between moving forward with Kamala Harris, or going backwards with Trump,” the campaign said.

“That’s what they saw tonight and what they should see at a second debate in October. Vice-President Harris is ready for a second debate. Is Donald Trump?”

Trump was seen entering the media spin room after the debate, with many commentators characterising his move as a sign he was acknowledging his performance did not meet his expectations. AFP