US presidential debate: Harris, Trump clash over key issues

US news channel Fox Newssaid it proposed to hold a second presidential debate in October. 

The channel, which largely caters to a conservative viewership, said it had sent letters to the campaigns for both Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican rival Donald Trump, before Tuesday night's debate. 

This invitation aside, Harris' campaign has already offered a rematch while Trump did not commit to it. 

"The reason you do a second debate is if you lose, and they lost," he told Fox News host Sean Hannity in the spin room after the first debate. "But I'll think about it."

After the debate, Trump entered the ABC news spin room and spoke to the audience. 

Trump remarked that it was "my best debate ever" and said it showed how "weak" and "pathetic" his opponents are. 

He touted "a lot of great polls that just came out" and mentioned that Harris wants to do another debate. He claimed that Harris wants another debate because "she lost." Reporters questioned Trump and said if he felt he did so well, why is he in the spin room?  

"I felt very good. I had a good time doing it," Trump said of the debate, adding it was a "great night."   

The former president also described the moderators as "very unfair."   

Pop star Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris after the debate. 

"I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election," she posted on Instagram.  

At the end of the debate, Harris and Trump both gave closing statements. 

During her closing remarks, Harris repeated her oft-used phrase during the campaign: "We are not going back."

Harris said her approach is "focused on the future" and said "we can chart a new way forward."

During Trump's remarks, he said that Harris, as part of the Biden administration, failed to "fix the border" and "create jobs."

"She should leave right now, go down to that beautiful White House, go to the Capitol, get everyone together, and do the things you want to do but you haven't done it — you won't do it," Trump said.  

As she tried to refute Trump’s accusation that she wants to take away owners' guns, Harris revealed that she is a gun owner, too.

"Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody's guns away," she said.

Harris first revealed the news in 2019. "I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do — for personal safety," Harris told reporters in Iowa. "I was a career prosecutor."

The two candidates also traded blows over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"I want the war to stop. I want to save lives," Trump said, while claiming Joe Biden's administration allowed the invasion to happen. At the same time, Trump dodged a question on whether he wants Ukraine "to win" the war. 

Harris, meanwhile, said Trump would give in and let Russian President Vladimir Putin take over Ukraine.

"If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now," Harris said. The vice president also said European leaders are relieved that Trump is not in office. 

Trump and Harris were asked about how they would end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Harris repeated some of her previous remarks, saying that Israel has a right to defend itself following Hamas terror attacks on October 7 that killed some 1,200 people in Israel last year.

But she added it matters how Israel did so. "This war must end," she says, adding: "It must end immediately."

She called for a cease-fire in Gaza and hostages held by militants to be freed.

She then said "we must chart a course for a two-state solution" which must ensure security for Israelis and "in equal measure" for Palestinians.

Trump was then asked about the topic. He began by claiming that the conflict would have "never started" if he were still president.

"She hates Israel. If she is president, I believe that Israel will not exist in two years from now," he said.

He adds that she also "hates the Arab population" because "the whole place is getting blown up."

"I will get that settled and fast," he said, adding that the Russia-Ukraine war will also end when he is re-elected.

Harris has repeatedly vowed to support Israel's security and denied the claim.

She hit out at Trump, saying world leaders laughed at him and military leaders called him a disgrace.  

When asked about the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot, Trump said: "I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech."

Trump gave a speech in Washington DC shortly before his supporters stormed the Capitol building, where he called them to "fight like hell." He also told his supporters to proceed peacefully to the Capitol at the time.  

The Capitol riot came after months of Trump falsely claiming that Joe Biden "rigged" the 2020 election. Trump filed numerous lawsuits after the election to dispute the results, the vast majority of them being shot down.      

During the debate, the president also said he was showing sarcasm recently when he said he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden by a whisker.

"Look, there's so much proof. All you have to do is look at... I got almost 75 million votes, the most votes any sitting president has ever gotten," Trump said, while refusing to say he lost.

 

During the debate, Trump repeated a false story about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating pets. Local police in Springfield have received no reports regarding Haitians or anyone else eating pets, according to local media. 

Harris leaned into her middle-class background and her plans to create an "opportunity economy" while lashing out at Trump as out of touch.

"Donald Trump has no plan for you. And when you look at his economic plan, it’s all about tax breaks for the richest people," she says.

Trump pushed back against the claim, saying Harris is an empty vessel when it comes to the economy, saying: "She doesn’t have a plan. She copied Biden's plan."

The Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade, which has led to abortion being restricted across the country, also was touched on during the debate. The conservative-majority court overturned the decadeslong ruling in 2022, thanks to three justices appointed by Trump.

"I pledge to you, when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protection of Roe v. Wade as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law," Harris said.

Harris also said Trump supports a nationwide abortion ban, which the former president denied. 

Trump, meanwhile, said he believes "in the exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother."

He also reiterated his claims that abortion laws in some states allow for the execution of new-born babies. A DW fact-check found that claim to be false. 

Both Harris and Trump traded barbs over the impact of Trump's tariffs and the US relationship with China.

Harris then blames Trump for not pressing Chinese leaders for "transparency about the origins of the COVID."

Trump correctly notes that most tariffs imposed by his administration have been kept by the Biden administration.

Harris criticized Trump's plans to raise more tariffs on goods from China and other countries, calling it a "sales tax" on Americans.

Trump, meanwhile, said the tariffs would raise money for the United States and claimed that tariffs would not raise prices for consumers. 

"They are not going to have higher prices," Trump said regarding his plans to implement tariffs on goods from abroad.    

Some economists have backed Harris' claims that the tariffs would raise prices. Trump claims that the money raised from tariffs would be used to lower taxes on Americans.  

Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation project that was put together by hundreds of high-profile conservatives. "I haven't read it. I don't want to read it, purposefully. I’m not going to read it," he says.

The project has controversial ideas like cutting abortion and a reduction of the federal government's role in education.

Harris and Trump met each other for the first time as the debate kicked off. The two candidates did a handshake before taking to their respective podiums.

The first topic of the debate was the economy and cost of living. ABC News anchor David Muir asked Harris if Americans are better off than they were four years ago in regards to rising prices.

Harris didn't answer the question directly, but rather outlined her economic plans if she takes office. She also mentioned a Goldman Sachs report which said that a Harris term would strengthen the economy while Trump's policies would stifle growth.     

Trump criticized rising costs of goods such as bacon during incumbent President Joe Biden's term. He also claimed that Harris "copied Biden's plan" for the economy.