Who won the Harris-Trump presidential debate?

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris met for the first time on the presidential debate stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

They may have shaken hands, but they didn’t hear each other.

Over the course of a fiery 90 minutes, Harris frequently rattled the former president with personal attacks that distracted from his message and raised the temperature of the highly anticipated contest.

His pointed attacks on the size of the crowds at his rallies, his conduct during the Capitol riot and officials who served in his administration and have since become vocal critics of his campaign have repeatedly left Trump on the defensive.

The common thread of the debate was Harris pushing his Republican rival to defend his conduct and past comments at length. He complied willingly, sometimes raising his voice and shaking his head.

Americans should attend Trump’s rallies, Harris said when asked about immigration first, because they are enlightening. “People are starting to leave the rallies early, out of exhaustion and boredom,” she said.

The barb clearly rattled the former president, as he then devoted most of his response — on a topic that should have been one of his strong points — to defending the size of his rallies and disparaging that of Mrs. Trump.

Trump then moved on to a lengthy discussion of a debunked report that Haitian immigrants in the city of Springfield, Ohio, were kidnapping and eating their neighbors’ pets.

If the debates are won or lost on which candidate will make the most of the issues he is strong on — and defend or avoid the areas he is weak on — Tuesday night the victory tilted in favor of the vice president.

A CNN snap poll of voters found Harris fared better, and betting markets said the same.

It was a snapshot that could have been momentary, but Harris’ tactic of putting Trump on the defensive was clear early in the evening when the topics discussed were the economy and abortion.

Public opinion polls indicate that many Americans are unhappy with how the Biden administration — of which Harris is a key member — has handled inflation and the economy.

But Harris turned the subject to Trump’s proposed broad tariffs, which she called a “Trump sales tax,” and then discussed Project 2025, the controversial independent conservative plan for a future Republican administration.

As in the past, Trump distanced himself from the project and defended his tariff plan, noting that the Biden administration had retained many tariffs during his first presidency. Those arguments were valid, but they prevented him from hammering the vice president on inflation and consumer prices.

On the abortion issue, Trump defended his approach to the issue, saying that Americans across the board want the Supreme Court to strike down Roe v. Wade’s abortion protections — a claim that polls don’t support. He struggled to articulate his position, and his response was at times rambling.

Harris, meanwhile, took the opportunity to make a personal and impassioned appeal to families who have faced serious pregnancy complications and have been unable to access abortion care in states that have banned the procedure — states with “Trump abortion bans,” as she called them.

“It’s an insult to American women,” she concluded.

It was a carefully modulated message in an area where she has a double-digit advantage over Trump.

More information on the US elections

Time and again throughout the evening, Harris put Trump on the defensive with jabs and barbs that he could have ignored but seemed compelled to respond to.

At one point, Harris was asked about the liberal positions, such as those on shale oil fracking, that she had espoused during her failed 2019 presidential campaign and has since abandoned. Her deliberate prodding continued, and she ended her answer by emphasizing that she had not accepted handouts from her wealthy father.

Once again, the former president took the bait. Instead of attacking the vice president for her changes of heart — an obvious weakness — he began his response by referring to the “small fraction” of money he had taken from her father.

On the Afghanistan withdrawal, another of Harris’ weak points, the vice president steered the conversation toward Trump’s negotiations with Taliban leaders and their invitation to Camp David. This pattern has been repeated many times and has proven very effective.

Republicans are already complaining about alleged favoritism toward Harris by ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, both of whom have repeatedly refuted and fact-checked Trump’s claims.

But ultimately, it was Trump’s reactions and his willingness to take and devour the bait Harris offered him that were the story of the night.

And it showed on both candidates’ faces. Whenever her opponent spoke, Harris wore a studied look of bewilderment or disbelief. Trump, for his part, looked rather sullen.

Until now, Harris’ campaign had been coy about whether she would agree to another debate. Almost immediately after this one ended, she called for a second presidential debate before November.

That alone should indicate how well Democrats think Tuesday night went for Harris.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher covers the race for the White House in his weekly newsletter US Election Unspun. UK readers can sign up here. Non-UK readers can sign up here.