Harris, Trump meet for first, and possibly only, debate | News, Sports, Jobs

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump presented starkly different visions for the country on abortion, immigration and American democracy Tuesday as they met for the first time in what may be their only debate before the November presidential election.

The Democratic vice president tried to get under the former Republican president’s skin, taunting him with reminders of his 2020 election defeat, which he still denies, and making mocking remarks about his other false statements. Harris’s provocations prompted Trump to engage in the kind of personal attacks and digressions that his advisers and supporters have tried to distract him from.

The two men have laid out starkly opposed visions of where the country is now and where they plan to go if elected. Harris has promised tax cuts for the middle class and said she would push to restore the federal abortion rights that the Supreme Court struck down two years ago. Trump has said his tariff proposals would help the United States stop being cheated by its allies on trade and said he would work to quickly end the war between Russia and Ukraine, even if it meant Ukraine failed to win on the battlefield.

The debate, Trump’s seventh as a presidential candidate as he begins his third run for the White House and Harris’s first, may have been Harris’ best chance to define herself on her own terms to voters. Their debate ended hours before the first ballots were set to go out in the mail Wednesday in Alabama. Election Day is Nov. 5, less than two months away.

Harris’ performance, in almost every way, appeared to be the polar opposite of President Joe Biden’s in June, with snappy, focused responses designed to hit her talking points while jabbing at Trump, while Biden was at times confused, hesitant and occasionally incoherent.

Harris used her body language and facial expressions to confront Trump and express that she found his responses ridiculous or amusing — or both — while Biden sometimes had a gaping expression as Trump attacked him.

In an instant, Harris turned to Trump and said that as vice president, she had spoken to foreign leaders, “And they say you’re a disgrace.”

Trump in turn tried to link Harris to Biden, questioning why she had not acted on ideas she proposed while vice president. “Why didn’t she do it?” Trump also focused his attacks on Harris because of the mission Biden gave her to address the root causes of illegal immigration.

He has repeatedly dismissed her and Biden as weak, and cited praise from Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban to show he is widely respected by world leaders, saying Orbán calls him the “the most feared person.”

Trump has again denied his defeat to Biden four years ago, when his efforts to overturn the result inspired the Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021.

“Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people,” Harris said: “Let’s be clear about this. It’s clear that he’s having a lot of trouble digesting this.”

By saying that it is “It’s time to turn the page” Harris appealed to Republicans and independents turned off by Trump’s style and his efforts four years ago to overturn the 2020 presidential election, saying there was a place in his campaign for them. “to defend our country, to defend our democracy, to defend the rule of law and to put an end to chaos.”

Trump has twice refused to say it is in the U.S. interest for Ukraine to win its war with Russia. Harris said that was an example of why America’s NATO allies were grateful he was no longer in power, as she and Biden sent tens of billions of dollars to help kyiv repel the Russian invasion.

As the former president made a series of false claims about migrants, Harris appeared to smile as he said that migrants are “taking jobs that are currently held by African-Americans and Hispanics.”

“Let’s talk about extreme” Harris responded when Trump repeated unfounded claims that immigrants in Ohio eat their neighbors’ dogs and cats.

The candidates met in a small, blue-lit amphitheater converted into a television studio, with no audience, meaning there was no applause, cheering or booing. The intimate setting, with the candidates’ desks placed less than 10 feet apart, overshadowed the contentious debate that followed.

As Harris appeared to try to intervene during one of his answers, Trump responded: “I’m speaking now, does this sound familiar?” recalling a moment when Harris ended an interruption from then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Harris sharply criticized Trump for the state of the economy and democracy when he left office, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the nation and after his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“What we did was clean up the mess that Donald Trump caused,” Harris said. She began her response by saying she expects voters to hear “a pile of lies, grievances and insults” of his Republican opponent during their 90-minute debate.

Trump, meanwhile, quickly lashed out at Harris for abandoning some of her past liberal positions, saying: “She’s going to follow my philosophy now. In fact, I was going to send her a MAGA hat.” Harris smiled broadly and laughed.

Harris has tried to defend her abandonment of liberal causes for more moderate positions on fracking, expanding Medicare for All and mandatory gun buyback programs — and even her retreat from her position that plastic straws should be banned — as pragmatism, insisting that her “The values ​​remain the same.”

As the debate opened, Harris approached Trump’s lectern to introduce herself, marking the first time the two had met. “Kamala Harris” she said, extending her hand to Trump, who received it in a handshake — the first handshake at a presidential debate since the 2016 campaign.

Harris, focusing on one of Trump’s biggest electoral vulnerabilities, laid the end of a federally guaranteed right to abortion at Trump’s feet for his role in appointing three U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving more than 20 states across the country with what she called “Trump bans abortion.”

Harris gave one of her most impassioned responses, describing how women have been denied abortion and other emergency care and said Trump would impose a national abortion ban if he won.

Trump said it “a lie” and said, “I’m not signing a ban and there’s no reason to sign a ban.”

The Republican said he wanted the issue to be left to the states.

Harris used a question about her plans to improve the economy by saying she would extend the tax cut for families with children and a tax deduction for small businesses while attacking Trump’s plans to impose extensive tariffs as an economic stimulus measure. “sales tax” on goods that the American people will ultimately pay for.

Trump remained impassive during her response, but retorted: “I don’t have sales tax. That’s an incorrect statement. She knows that.”

Trump, who is trying to portray the vice president as an out-of-touch liberal while trying to convince voters skeptical of his return to the White House, continued to call Harris a “Marxist,” and said “Everyone knows she’s a Marxist.”

Trump, 78, has struggled to adjust to Harris, 59, who is the first woman, black and South Asian to serve as vice president. The former Republican president has at times resorted to racial and gender stereotypes, frustrating allies who want Trump to focus instead on policy differences with Harris.

“I read she wasn’t black.” Asked about comments questioning Harris’ race, Trump said, then added a minute later, “And then I read she was black.” He seemed to suggest that his race was a choice, saying twice: “It’s up to her to decide.”

“I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president and who, throughout his career, has consistently tried to use race to divide the American people.” Harris responded.

Harris said Trump has a long history of racial division, dating back to when his family’s business was investigated for refusing to rent to black people decades ago. She also mentioned that he has called for the death penalty for “Central Park Five” who were falsely accused of rape and spread false information “birther” theories about President Barack Obama.

“I think the American people want better than that, want better than that.” she said, nodding at Trump.

Harris criticized Trump for one of his greatest sources of pride, his freewheeling campaign rallies. Harris noted how at the events, Trump, as he addresses the issues, sometimes muses on “fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter” and if “Wind turbines cause cancer” and then he said that if you look at his events “You will also notice that people start leaving his gatherings earlier than expected, out of exhaustion and boredom.”

“The only thing you won’t hear him talk about is you. Your needs, your dreams, your desires.”

Trump tried to use his next question to respond by accusing Harris of having no one at her rallies except for the people he claims, without evidence, she bussed in and paid to be there.

“She can’t talk about that. People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest, most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” he said. he said.

After the June 27 debate between Trump and Biden, the incumbent president withdrew from the race after his disastrous performance, Trump survived an assassination attempt, and both sides chose their running mates.

The debate subjected Harris, who has given only one official interview in the past six weeks, to a rare moment of sustained questioning.

Trump at one point launched an attack on Biden, questioning his mental acuity by claiming that Biden “doesn’t even know he’s alive.”

Harris quickly tried to turn the tables on Trump to make him look less smart.

“First of all, I think it’s important to remind the former president that he’s not running against Joe Biden. He’s running against me,” he added. she said.

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