On Tuesday night at 9 p.m., the first Presidential Debate between former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris took place in Philadelphia, PA. 73 million tuned in to watch the debacle that was Tuesday night.
Many controversial topics arose during the debate such as inflation, abortion, immigration, and conflicts currently going on in the world. Each of the candidates had vastly different responses to each question and some of those responses were filled with misinformation.
ABC’s news’ journalists David Muir and Lindsey Davis were the moderators for this debate. There were rules set ahead of time to ensure a relatively civil debate. Some of the rules included: a strict timer for each person, no pre-written notes, and microphones would only be on if it was that candidates turn to speak.
When both candidates walked onto the stage, Harris went in for a diplomatic handshake while Trump just stood at his podium. This was the precursor of all the spectacles to go down later.
One of the biggest topics of the night, the economy, was under discussion at many points of the debate even when it wasn’t the direct topic. Harris made it clear that she wants an “opportunity economy”; in which benefits small business owners by giving them tax deductions. Another part of her plan is to increase the child tax credit to $6,000.
However, when Muir asked Trump about his economic plan, he claimed other countries would be paying the United States back for all the times the U.S. helped them.
He also brought up imposing more tariffs on imports from other countries. Trump then added his belief was that undocumented immigrants are coming into the U.S. and taking jobs away from Americans. Trump stated, “They’re dangerous, they’re the highest level of criminality.”
He then went on to say, “They’re [Haitian immigrants] eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. This is a shame.” Muir then replied that there was no evidence to support these claims.
Harris discussed her views on the war going on in Gaza right now. She recalled the apprehension of October 7, 2023 of Hamas’ attacks on Israel. Harris responded with modest criticism of Israel’s plan. While this topic is not so clear-cut, her idea was to call for a ceasefire and that Israel had a right to defend themselves.
Former President Trump lied in response to Harris about the topic of Project 2025. Harris said that Trump has a “dangerous plan” that is Project 2025, which he will put into policy if he were to be put into office.
Trump quickly replied, “I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” and claimed that he has never been associated with the document. However, according to CNN, “Nearly 240 people with ties to both Project 2025 and to Trump.” This was one of the many lies Trump would continue to spew throughout the evening.
Another heated discussion took place on the topic of abortion. Harris directly said that the government, and certainly not Donald Trump, should be able to tell a woman what she should medically do with her body.
Trump then made a series of insensitive comments saying that women are getting abortions at the ninth month mark and then after the baby is born they “execute” it.
Harris’ closing statement simply outlined her plans for the future as well as a call to unify the country for the upcoming election.
While Trump’s closing statement consisted of him reiterating his earlier points claiming that Harris is a liar in all of her plans.
