Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: The debate was held without an audience.
In a pivotal moment for the US presidential election campaign, former President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris faced off in their first televised debate shortly in Pennsylvania.
Kamala Harris, 59, who holds a significant edge among women voters according to recent polls, challenged Trump on reproductive rights, especially given his recent, seemingly contradictory statements on abortion.
Conversely, Trump targetted Harris on issues such as the economy and immigration.
The race for the White House between Kamala Harris, who is Black and South Asian, and Donald Trump appears to be neck-and-neck, with the latest polls showing Trump leading Harris 48% to 47% nationally.
According to AFP, Harris has spent the past five days in intensive debate preparations, sequestered in a hotel. In contrast, the Trump team has indicated that the former president has taken a more relaxed approach in the lead-up to the debate.
The debate is scheduled to last 90 minutes and will be held without an audience.
Here are the Highlights on Trump Vs Kamala Harris debate:
Donald Trump: She hates Biden. She is trying to get away from Biden
Kamala Harris: I’m not Joe Biden. I’m not Donald Trump. What I do offer is new generation of leadership for our country.
Donald Trump: I don’t care what she is. I don’t care. Either one is okay with me.
Kamala Harris: It is a tragedy we have someone who wants to be president who has always used to race to divide.
Kamala Harris: I agreed with Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan. Trump negotiated directly with a terrorist organisation called the Taliban.
Donald Trump: We would have been out faster than them. Would not have left many Americans behind. This was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.
As Donald Trump continued his criticism on President Joe Biden, prompting Kamala Harris to push back that she is now his rival.
“First of all, it’s important to remind the former president you’re not running against Joe Biden, you’re running against me,” she said.
Kamala Harris: I think why Donald Trump says this war would be over in 24 hours because he would give it up. If Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now
Donald Trump: They sent her to negotiate peace. Three days later, the (Russia-Ukraine) war started. He (Biden) is the worst president in the history of our country, and she goes down as the worst vice president.
Kamala: I said it before, you will be hearing a bunch of lies from this fellow.
Kamala Harris: It is well known he admires dictators. It is well known he exchanges love letters with Kim Jong.
Donald Trump: Putin endorsed her last week. Because what he got away with is incredible. I want the war to stop. People are being uselessly being killed. I know Putin very well, I know Zelensky very well. I have a good relationship. I will get this settled.
Donald Trump: She hates Israel. She didn’t even meet Netanyahu when he visited Congress. She also hates the Arab population. Look at what is happening in the middle east. This would have never happened if I were president.
Kamala Harris: Absolutely not true.
“Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. He is having very difficulty processing that. World leaders are laughing at Trump. I talk to military leaders who say he is a disgrace,” Kamala Harris said.
Asked if he has admitted that he lost the 2020 election when he said he “came up
short” or lost “by a whisker”, Donald Trump said his comments were sarcastic and he does not believe he lost the 2020 election.
“Are you now acknowledging that you lost in 2020?” ABC News moderator David Muir asked.
“No I don’t acknowledge that at all. That was said sarcastically,” he said
Donald Trump: I have nothing to do with that other than that they asked me to make a speech. Nancy Pelosi is fully responsible for that.
Kamala Harris: I was at the Capitol on January 6. The President of the US incited a violent mob to attract our nation’s capital, to desecrate our nation’s capital.
Donald Trump repeated a rumour that originated from a social media post claiming that pets were being stolen from their houses by Haitian immigrants who were consuming the pets.
“In Springfield they are eating dogs, cats. They are eating the pets of the people who live there. We will end up being Venezuela on steroids,” he said.
ABC news anchor corrected the former US president saying that they reached out to the city manager of Springfield, Ohio and he denied all reports of pets being attacked.
A social media post originally from a Springfield Facebook group went viral where the original poster claimed that their neighbor’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat and found it hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbor’s home being carved up to be eaten.
“They have allowed millions of criminals, they have allowed terrorists, drug dealers to come into the US. They think they are gonna get votes. They have destroyed the fabric of this country. Crime here is up and through the roof,” Donald Trump said.
Kamala Harris: I have got endorsements from over 200 Republicans who have worked under him.
Donald Trump: I am a different kind of person. I have fired those people.
Trump vs Harris On Immigration: “We Will Become Venezuela On Steroids”
“She is destroying this country. We will become Venezuela on steroids if she becomes president,” Donald Trump said attacking Kamala Harris and the Biden administration over illegal migration into the US.
Kamala Harris hits out at Donald Trump saying people start leaving his rallies out of boredom.
Donald Trump: Democrats are radicals. Her vice presidential pick – which I believe is a horrible pick – says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. This is an issue that has torn our country apart for 52 years.
Kamala Harris: In over 20 years, there are Trump abortion bans. They don’t make exception even in rape and incest. If Trump becomes president, he will sign the national abortion ban.
Donald Trump: She is lying. I’m not signing the ban. There is no reason to sign the ban.
“Kamala Harris A Marxist, Destroyed Our Country With Insane Policy”: Donald Trump
“She is a Marxist. Her father is a Marxist and he taught her well. She has destroyed our country with policy that is insane,” says Donald Trump.
LIVE | “Kamala Doesn’t Have A Plan She Copied Biden’s Plan”: Donald Trump
“My plan is a great plan. She doesn’t have a plan and has copied Biden’s plan,” says Donald Trump.
“Trump Has No Plan, He’s More Interested In Defending Himself”: Kamala Harris
“Donald Trump has no plan for you. He is more interested in defending himself,” says Kamala Harris.
“Trump left us the worst employment since the great depression. He left us the worst attack on democracy since civil war. The former president intends on implementing the detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025,” says Kamala Harris.
“I have nothing do with Project 2025. Everybody knows I’m an open book and what I’m gonna do,” replies Donald Trump.
LIVE: ‘Inflation In US Worst In History’: Donald Trump Slams Biden Administration
“We have a terrible economy. We have inflation that is probably the worst in the history. This has been a disaster for people”, says Donald Trump
“I was raised as a middle-class kid and I’m the only person on the stage who has plans to lifting American people. I’ve got a plan to build the American community. I plan to cut taxes for startup,” says Kamala Harris
LIVE: Donald Trump-Kamala Harris Debate Begins
The first televised debate between Donald Trump-Kamala Harris begins on ABC Networks.
In Philadelphia, the cradle of American democracy, residents were eagerly waiting Tuesday for the first — and possibly only — debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The streets teemed with political ads and Harris’s campaign was set to fly a drone show over downtown.
Security fences were erected around the National Constitution Center, which was hosting the showdown and which commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence some 250 ago.
Donald Trump landed Tuesday in Philadelphia ahead of the highly anticipated US presidential debate between him and Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who arrived in the city the previous day.
The Republican arrived at the airport of Pennsylvaniaor ‘s largest metropolis barely two hours before the prime-time showdown, AFP TV showed, with
