New Delhi: A forceful debate performance by US Vice President Kamala Harris riled former President Donald Trump, who was forced to resort to conspiracy theories such as attacks on domestic pets by immigrants during the first debate between the two presidential candidates late on Tuesday night.
The debate saw fierce exchanges on a myriad of topics, including the economy, abortion, foreign policy, and immigration.
Trump’s previous debate with President Joe Biden ultimately led to the latter withdrawing from the race and nominating Kamala Harris as the Democratic National Committee’s presidential candidate for the November 2024 elections.
However, this time, the debate was markedly different for the Republican presidential candidate, Trump, with the ABC News moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, fact-checking his claims throughout it.
“What they [the Biden administration] have done to our country by allowing these millions, and millions, of people to come into our country and look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States…. In Springfield, they are eating the dogs, they are eating the cats, they are eating the pets of the people that live there. This is what is happening in our country,” said Trump when asked why he killed a bi-partisan border security legislation earlier in the year.
Trump finished his argument declaring if Harris wins the election, the US would become “Venezuela on steroids”.
Muir stepped in to fact-check Trump’s claims of the harming of pets, pointing out that the city administration of Springfield has no “credible reports” verifying his claims.
Harris had prepared to bring up topics that would get underneath his skin — the size of the crowds at his rallies, his felony convictions, and even the handling of the economy under his presidency.
“I am going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump’s rallies because it is really interesting to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills causing cancer. What you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom,” said Harris.
Trump took the bait and spent nearly half a minute defending the size of his rallies, calling them the “biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics”.
Roughly an hour after the debate ended, pop star Taylor Swift — who has been in the crosshairs of the ecosystem supporting Trump in recent months — endorsed Harris for president in a post on social media platform Instagram.
Earlier, last month, AI-generated videos of Swift allegedly showing her support for Trump became public but later turned out to be fake.
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Harris hammers at issue of Trump’s felony convictions
Harris continued to bait Trump through the course of the debate, raising the issue of his felony convictions and the multiple cases the former president is currently facing.
“I think this is so rich coming from someone, who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault, and his next big court appearance is in November at his own criminal sentencing,” proclaimed Harris.
The vice president also tried to link Trump with the idea of “defunding” law enforcement — a claim usually made by the Republican Party against the Democrats.
Trump, however, asserted that the cases he faces are due to the “weaponisation” of the justice system by the Democrats and that he will “win” all of them. He accused the Democrats of making the justice departments “go after” him.
Trump also tried to take back his comments last month when he cast doubts over the racial identity of Harris — an issue that plagued his campaign at the time.
“I don’t care what she is. I don’t care…whatever she wants to be is okay with me…. All I can say (is that) I read she was not Black — that she put out — and then I read she was Black. Either one is okay with me — that is up to her,” explained Trump.
Harris used the moment to attack Trump for trying to use race to “divide” people and also indicated he was against African American tenants in his properties. Through all this, Harris attempted to give a message of “turning the page” and that the American people “want something better than this.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Mr. Padmanabhan, please dtop this biased and partisan coverage of the US Presidential campaign. Your personal dislike for Mr. Trump shines through clearly through your reportage.
Anyone who watched the debate live would tell you that Trump came across as the more convincing and clear-headed candidate.