Harris takes fight to Trump in fiery presidential debate
PHILADELPHIA
Kamala Harris went on the offensive against Donald Trump in a fiery televised debate Tuesday, engaging her rival in a heated exchange as they vied for momentum in an agonizingly close election.
In a performance that earned her the endorsement of pop superstar Taylor Swift, the Democrat confronted the "extreme" Republican on contentious issues, from abortion to democracy, and accused him of being friendly with dictators.
Trump repeatedly raised his voice as he countered the vice president on immigration and the economy, labeling her a "Marxist" and blaming her for what he claimed were the failings of President Joe Biden's administration.
The former president asserted after the ABC News-hosted clash in Philadelphia that it was his "best debate," while Harris's campaign also declared victory and challenged him to a second debate in October.
With less than two months until the election, Harris, 59, was under pressure to deliver in front of an expected audience of tens of millions after her sudden replacement as the Democratic candidate in place of Biden.
She began by surprising Trump with a handshake before they took to their lecterns, but the niceties soon ended.
Trump, who had previously believed he was cruising to victory, reacted to pressure from Harris with his familiar finger-jabbing insults and meandering invective typical of his rallies.
Harris responded with amusement, occasionally exclaiming "c'mon," before declaring that she represents a fresh start after the "mess" of the Trump presidency—asserting, "We're not going back."
'Eat you for lunch'
One of the most intense exchanges was on abortion. Trump insisted that, after pushing for the end of the federal right to abortion, he wanted individual states to make their own policies. Harris accused him of telling a "bunch of lies" and described his policies as "insulting to the women of America."
Within minutes, Trump hammered at the Democrat’s weaknesses on immigration by falsely claiming that she and Biden had allowed "millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums." Harris pointed out that Trump is a convicted felon, called him "extreme," and said it is "a tragedy" that he had used "race to divide the American people" throughout his career.
The rivals also clashed on foreign policy, with Harris telling Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "eat you for lunch" regarding the war in Ukraine, and that foreign dictators were "laughing" at him. Trump responded by accusing Harris of being weak on the war in Gaza, claiming she "hated Israel" and that Israel would be "gone" within two weeks if she were president.
Another confrontation occurred when Trump doubled down on his refusal to accept losing to Biden in the 2020 election, before trying to overturn the result. Harris mocked his reality TV catchphrase, saying Trump had been "fired by 81 million people.”
Swift endorsement
Taylor Swift broke her silence on U.S. politics minutes after the debate, endorsing Harris as president and praising her as a "steady-handed, gifted leader." Her message on Instagram quickly received 3.6 million likes, signed off as "childless cat lady," a jab at an insult directed at Democrat-supporting women by Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance.
The last presidential debate in June resulted in a crushing victory for Trump after Biden's performance doomed his reelection campaign. Biden commented that the Harris-Trump debate "wasn't even close" in a post on X.
Trump had long seemed resilient. Despite being convicted of falsifying business records to cover up an affair with an adult film star, found liable for sexual abuse, and facing trial for charges related to overturning the 2020 election, he remains neck-and-neck with Harris in polls.
However, Harris challenged him on one of his favorite topics: the size of his rally crowds. Attendees, she said, were leaving early out of "exhaustion and boredom," prompting an angry retort from Trump.
In another moment where Trump appeared to be losing his cool, he discussed a debunked conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants were eating local people's pets in Ohio. "They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats," he claimed before being corrected by the ABC News moderator that authorities in Springfield had said this did not happen.