The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tuesday night marked the first time the two have appeared on stage together since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race following a widely panned performance in a debate with Trump earlier this year and installed Harris as his successor.
Moderated by ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis, the debate touched upon several topics, including the economy, abortion, illegal immigration and foreign policy.
Here are five highlights from the debate.
1. Trump calls Democrats ‘radical’ on abortion; Harris suggests abortion isn't inconsistent with the Christian faith
When the topic of the debate turned to abortion, Trump insisted that “they (some Democrat-led states) have abortion in the ninth month.” Characterizing the Democrats’ position on abortion as “radical,” the former president claimed that Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz believes that “abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine.”
Trump also maintained that Walz supports “execution after birth,” adding, “That’s not OK with me,” as he explained why he was voting against Florida’s Amendment 4 that would establish a right to abortion in the state constitution.
While ABC's co-debate moderator Linsey Davis asserted that “there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” the Family Research Council identifies Minnesota as one of three states that have removed protections for infants who survive botched abortions.
Harris lamented that “in over 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans,” referring to pro-life laws passed in those states following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that determined the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion and returned the power to make laws governing abortion back to the states. She insisted that abortion bans in these states also make “no exception even for rape and incest.”
According to data compiled by the pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, only 10 states have abortion bans in place that don't have exceptions for rape and incest: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. Mississippi allows abortions in cases where the woman is raped but not if a baby is conceived as a result of incest.
Harris also suggested that support for legal abortion is not inconsistent with the Christian faith. “One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said.
While Harris asserted that “if Donald Trump were to be reelected, he will sign a national abortion ban,” Trump pushed back, saying: “I’m not signing a ban and there’s no reason to sign a ban.”
“I’m not in favor of an abortion ban, but it doesn’t matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states,” he added.
2. Trump warns Harris will turn the US into ‘Venezuela on steroids’
During a conversation on immigration policy, Trump expressed concern that if Harris wins the election, “we’ll end up being Venezuela on steroids.” The former president elaborated on why he thought Harris’ immigration policy would have a negative impact on the U.S. by pointing to the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the issue.
“They allowed criminals, many, many millions of criminals, they allowed terrorists, they allowed common street criminals, they allowed people to come in, drug dealers to come into our country,” he stated. “They’re now in the United States and told by their countries, like Venezuela, don’t ever come back or we’re going to kill you.”
Trump brought up Harris’ direct role in the administration’s immigration policy after the debate pivoted to the topic of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol: “She was the border czar. Remember that. She was the border czar. She doesn’t want to be called the border czar because she’s embarrassed by the border.”
3. Harris expresses support for a two-state solution; Trump says Harris ‘hates Israel’
When the debate turned to Israel and the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas, Harris asserted that “Israel has a right to defend itself” while stressing that “how it does so matters.” Lamenting that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” she proclaimed: “This war must end.”
“It must end immediately and the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal and we need the hostages out,” she added, vowing that the Biden administration will “continue to work around the clock on that." She further claimed that she would "chart a course for a two-state solution."
Harris identified “security for the Israeli people and Israel” and “an equal measure for the Palestinians” as an essential part of the two-state solution she envisions. Promising that she will “always give Israel the ability to defend itself” when it comes to Iran, she reiterated that “we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve.”
Trump took issue with Harris’ insistence that she supports Israel, bringing up Harris’ absence during a speech Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave to Congress over the summer: “She hates Israel. She wouldn’t even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers.”
“If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now,” Trump warned. At the same time, Trump suggested that Harris “hates the Arab population” because he believes that under her foreign policy, “the whole place is going to get blown up: Arabs, Jewish people, Israel.”
4. Trump addresses Biden’s departure from the race: ‘We have a president that doesn’t know he’s alive’
During a discussion on foreign policy crises, Trump asked, “Where is our president?” He attempted to answer his own question by declaring, “We don’t even know if he’s our president” before addressing his departure from the race.
“They threw him out of a campaign like a dog,” he chided. “We don’t even know, is he our president?”
“We have a president that doesn’t know he’s alive,” he added. Earlier, Trump brought up the first presidential debate and how it led to Biden’s withdrawal from the race: “If he [wasn’t] in that debate, he’d be running instead of her. She got no votes.”
“He got 14 million votes; they threw him out. She got zero votes.”
5. Harris and Trump spar over rally size
Harris invited the American people to “attend one of Donald Trump’s rallies because it’s a really interesting thing to watch."
"People start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom,” she claimed.
Trump rejected Harris’ analysis and contended that her rallies are poorly attended: “People don’t go to her rallies. There’s no reason to go, and the people that do go, she’s busing them in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light. So, she can’t talk about that. People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”
Originally published by The Christian Post
