Ex-U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris faced each other on the debate stage Tuesday night for the first.
The race is tight between the two candidates. Among registered voters, Harris leads Trump by 1 point — 49% to 48% — according to the latest PBS/NPR/Marist poll. That result falls within the margin of error.
The ABC debate marks the first face-to-face meeting between Harris, 59, and Trump, 78.
Here are the top takeaways from the fierce debate:
Threats to democracy
Harris was a prosecutor for a dozen years, first as San Francisco district attorney and then as California’s attorney general. A central component of Harris’ campaign has been portraying Trump as a threat to democracy.
During the debate, Harris highlighted Trump’s status as a convicted felon. Trump replied with the unsubstantiated accusation that Harris and the Biden administration are “weaponizing” the government to prosecute him
When asked by the moderator whether Trump would acknowledge that he lost the 2020 presidential election, he replied with the false claim that he actually won the election. On the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump said, “I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech.”
“It’s time to turn the page,” Harris said.
“There is a place in our campaign for you to stand for our country, to stand for democracy, to stand for rule of law and to end the chaos and to end the approach that is about attacking the foundations of our democracy,” she added.
Immigration issue
Immigration has been one of the biggest issues in this presidential campaign. Throughout the debate, Trump lambasted the Biden administration’s handling of immigration – often when the moderators asked questions unrelated to immigration.
Trump repeated his false claims that immigrants are “taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings. They’re going in violently.” He also cited baseless conspiracy theories about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pet dogs and cats.
Harris criticized Trump for killing a bipartisan bill earlier this year that would have put 1,500 more border agents on the U.S. southern border. Harris has said she would support the bill.
Economy
The economy was the debate’s first topic, with Harris saying she wants to create an “opportunity economy.” She cited her plan to increase the tax credit for starting new small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000.
“I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class,” she said, adding that Trump wants to help the rich with tax cuts.
Trump has said he will further reduce the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 15%. Harris wants to increase the rate to 28%. It was 35% before Trump’s 2017 tax bill.
Trump spent much of his answer on the economy talking about immigration. However, he also said he created one of the best economies in the United States, without offering specifics, and that he will do it again.
“Look, we’ve had a terrible economy, because inflation, which is really known as a country buster,” Trump said.
Abortion debate
Trump and Harris grew increasingly combative when debating the question of abortion.
As president, Trump appointed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped form the majority that overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. That decision laid the groundwork for states to impose restrictive rules on abortion around the country.
“The Supreme Court had great courage in doing it,” Trump said during the debate.
When asked if he would support a national abortion ban, he said: “No, I’m not in favor of abortion ban. But it doesn’t matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states.”
He also said he would not oppose abortion in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk. He also falsely claimed that Democrats support abortions “after birth.”
In response, Harris emphasized the importance of women’s reproductive rights.
“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said. She added that she would support Congress passing a bill to codify federal abortion protections and, as president, sign it into law.
Russia-Ukraine War
More than two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Republicans are wary of offering more aid, while Democrats largely support bolstering Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.
That division was visible on Tuesday’s debate stage. On the subject of Ukraine, the two candidates did not appear to be on the same page.
While Trump said he would push for a deal to end the conflict, Harris stressed the need to support Ukrainian forces to push back against the Russian invasion.
Asked whether the US should continue its push for Ukraine to win the war, Trump said: “I think it’s in the US’s best interest to get this war finished and just get it done and negotiate a deal because we have to stop all of these human lives from being destroyed.”
Trump argued that the lack of leadership in the Biden administration allowed Russia to invade Ukraine.
Harris slammed the former president’s reluctance to pledge full-fledged support for Ukraine, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be in Kyiv by now if Trump were in office.
“Understand, our European allies — NATO allies — are so thankful that you are no longer president and that we understand the importance of the greatest military the world has known, which is NATO,” she said.
“The reason that Donald Trump says that this war would be over within 24 hours is because he would just give it up.”
‘Harris hates Israel’ claim
In addition to domestic policy, the moderators also pressed Harris and Trump on foreign policy issues, including the ongoing wars between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Hamas.
On the Israel-Hamas war, Harris said the United States would defend Israel. She added that she supports a two-state solution. The war “must end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal, and we need the hostages out,” Harris said.
For his part, Trump reiterated his position that the war in the Middle East would not have broken out if he were in office. He also accused Harris of having a bias against Israel.
“She hates Israel. At the same time, in her own way, she hates the Arab population because the whole place is going to get blown up — Arabs, Jewish people, Israel. Israel will be gone,” he said.
