She started on the front foot by surprising Trump by approaching him to shake his hand before they took to their lecterns — and then kept the upper hand.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (R) shakes hands with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
Kamala Harris put Donald Trump on the defensive in a fiery televised debate Tuesday, getting under her rival’s skin as they battled for a breakthrough in an agonizingly close US presidential election.
In a performance that earned her the endorsement of pop superstar Taylor Swift, the Democrat baited the “extreme” Republican into angry responses on issues ranging from abortion to democracy and foreign policy.
The 59-year-old US vice president managed to knock former president Trump off his game in their first and only scheduled showdown, which featured a series of bitter personal attacks on both sides.
Trump said afterwards that the ABC News-hosted clash in Philadelphia was his “best debate” but snap polls and commentators said Harris had won, with her campaign quickly challenging him to a second debate in October.
With less than two months until election day, Harris was under pressure to deliver in front of an audience of tens of millions after her sudden rise to the top of the Democratic ticket in place of US President Joe Biden.
She started on the front foot by surprising Trump by approaching him to shake his hand before they took to their lecterns — and then kept the upper hand.
Trump repeatedly raised his voice as he hit back at the vice president on immigration and the economy, branding her a “Marxist” and blaming her for what he said were the failings of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Harris responded by looking on in amusement before declaring that she represents a fresh start after the “mess” of the Trump presidency — and saying: “We’re not going back.”
‘Bunch of lies’
One of their most intense exchanges was on abortion.
Trump insisted that while having pushed for the end of the federal right to abortion, he wanted individual states to make their own policy.
Harris said he was telling a “bunch of lies” and called his policies “insulting to the women of America.”
Another jarring clash came as Trump doubled down on his unprecedented refusal to accept losing to Biden in the 2020 election, before trying to overturn the result.
Harris responded by mocking his catchphrase as a reality TV star, saying that Trump had been “fired by 81 million people” and calling him a threat to democracy.
appearance in the debate “spin room” afterwards to speak to journalists.
Pop megastar Taylor Swift broke her silence on US politics minutes after the debate, backing Harris as president and praising her as a “steady-handed, gifted leader.”
Her message on Instagram — which received 5.3 million likes in a few hours — was signed off “childless cat lady” in a jibe at an insult Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance directed at Democrat-supporting women.
AFP
