US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump squared off in their first presidential debate that saw tense exchanges on abortion rights, the economy, immigration and border issues as well as the Israel-Gaza war.
The leaders also traded jabs over each other’s characters as the high-stakes debate took a personal turn on several occasions.
While Harris said world leaders were laughing at Trump, the Republican stated that President Joe Biden “hated” her.
Politico declared Harris the winner of the debate – and said it wasn’t even a close victory. She repeatedly baited him and knocked him off balance, it said.
Harris called out Trump’s “same old tired playbook, a bunch of lies, grievances and name-calling”, declaring the Republican has no plan for the people and is more interested in defending himself.
Trump and Harris faced off in their first televised debate on Tuesday.
Trump was initially leading in national polls, but the entry of Harris changed the game. Latest polls suggest the two leaders are neck and neck with the Democrat maintaining a marginal lead over her Republican rival.
The debate will help set the political environment for the last two months of the presidential race, being the last chance for the two candidates to reach out to some voters in key battleground states.
The debate began with Harris lambasting Donald Trump for leaving the nation with the “worst unemployment since the Great Depression” while touting her plans to build an “opportunity economy”, including making housing more affordable and expanding the child tax credit. “My opponent has a plan that I call the Trump sales tax, which would be a 20% tax on everyday goods that you rely on to get through the month,” Harris said.
Harris also raised Trump’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying she and Biden cleaned up the “mess” left by Trump. “Donald Trump has no plans for you. Because he is more interested in defending himself than looking out for you,” she further claimed.
Criticising “Trump abortion bans”, Harris said the ex-President’s policies on abortion had no exception for rape or incest, which she called “immoral”.
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