Eight weeks before the United States votes, Republic presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democrat opponent Kamala Harris are now facing off in the presidential debate. At the start of the debate, Harris and Trump shook hands after they were introduced on stage. This ends an eight-year streak of no handshakes on the presidential debate stage.
Interestingly, this is also the first time the two leaders are meeting, and Ms Harris made a point to introduce herself to Mr Trump.
Asked to respond to a question on economy and the cost of living, an issue high on voters’ minds, Ms Harris spoke of her middle-class background and her plans to support families and small businesses if elected to the top post. Targeting Trump, she said he would provide tax cuts to “billionaires and big corporations” and also reminded the viewers of the condition he left the economy in when Joe Biden took over. At one point, Ms Harris said, “Donald Trump has no plan for you.
As the debate heated up, Trump started targeting Harris on the Biden administration’s record on immigration, she responded, “You’re going to hear from the same old tired playbook, a bunch of lies, grievances and name-calling.”
“Let’s talk about what Donald Trump left us. Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the great depression. Donald Trump left us the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess,” she said.
At one point, Trump switched to a personal attack. “She is a Marxist. Her father was a Marxist.” Harris was seen smiling throughout. The former President complained that he did not get enough credit for the “great job” during the Covid pandemic. “We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic,” he said.
