Trump-Harris debate: 5 highlights of the confrontation

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debated less than two months before the pre-election residential. Several themes such as immigration, abortion or the economy have given rise to lively exchanges. As have fake news.

&Less than two months before the American presidential election, the long-awaited duel between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris took place and kept all its promises. For about 90 minutes, the two candidates attacked each other in a sometimes tense debate. Abortion, fake news, immigration, personal attacks… the spectators were not surprised. Although attacked by Donald Trump, Kamala Harris still managed to present her arguments by putting her opponent in difficulty. Both, however, accused each other of lying by confronting their totally opposed visions of America.

Hosted on ABC News, from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Harris-Trump debate began at 9 p.m., which is 3 a.m. in France. And the rules were the same for both participants: no opening remarks, 2 minutes to conclude at the end of the debate, microphones turned off when candidates are not speaking, no props or pre-written notes or even and no questions asked between candidates. Conditions that did not prevent the debate from being relatively lively. A look back at the five highlights of the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Tuesday, September 10, 2024.

Heated debates on abortion

A lively exchange took place on the issue of abortion. Kamala Harris notably criticized the former president of the United States for having appointed three conservative judges to the Supreme Court, in order to end the federal guarantee for voluntary termination of pregnancy in 2022. “I warned that we were going to hear a tissue of lies,” she said. A response to Donald Trump's claim that babies would be executed after birth in the United States. “Nowhere in America is a woman going to go to term to seek an abortion. “That never happens. It's insulting to the women of America,” she continued. Donald Trump believes he has “done the country a huge service” by overturning the decision of the right to abortion in the states themselves.

“À Springfield, they eat dogs, they eat cats”

Donald Trump then repeated a false accusation about migrants in the city of Springfield in Ohio: “In Springfield, they eat dogs, the people who come (migrants), they eat cats. They eat the pets of the inhabitants. This is what is happening in our country,” he said. This theory made popular by several Republican leaders in the United States and denied by the authorities did not fail to frighten his rival as well as the moderator of the debate, the latter clearly explained that no evidence had confirmed this thesis. Kamala Harris, for her part, accused Donald Trump of having put pressure on the Republican camp to block an immigration reform project being prepared in Congress. This dubious statement by Donald Trump came as the debate was moving towards the theme of immigration. A way for him to divert attention and avoid one of the central topics of this election ?

Gaza, Ukraine… “Everyone knows that Trump is weak in foreign policy”

Regarding the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, Donald Trump said that he could have prevented these clashes if he had been in power instead of Joe Biden. “I want this war to stop. I know Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin very well. “They respect me, not Joe Biden,” he explained. For him, “it is in the interest of the United States to end this war and negotiate a deal, because we have to prevent the destruction of all these human lives.”

While Trump is a follower of the cult of personality, he did not forget to attack his competitor Kamala Harris, accusing her of “hating Israel”. For him, if she were to come to power, the state of Israel “would disappear in two years”. For her part, the Democratic candidate pleaded for a ceasefire in Gaza, while indicating that “everyone knows that Donald Trump is weak in foreign policy”. She also denounced her opponent's admiration for “dictators”, and that Vladimir Putin would make “a mouthful” of the former president of the United States if he were to run for a second term in the White House.

For Trump, the d&eacutes ;democrats would be responsible for the assassination attempt on July 13

During the debate, Donald Trump also returned to the assassination attempt he was the victim of during a rally on July 13. Yesterday, he simply accused his competitors, the Democratic camp, of being behind this attack. He calls the opposing party a “threat to democracy.” “I probably got shot in the head because of the things they say about me.” “They talk about democracy, I'm a threat to democracy, they're the threat to democracy,” Donald Trump said. A statement that completes the plethora of fake news, heard from Donald Trump in recent months as well as during this debate on September 10, 2024.

Economy: Trump accuses Harris of “Marxism”

On economic issues, which can take a back seat during American debates, particularly behind immigration or simply behind the many clashes, Kamala Harris has positioned herself as the middle-class candidate she wants “pull up”. She intends to give pride of place to the country's small businesses, a new tax credit was notably mentioned by the Democrat during the evening. The opportunity was too good for Donald Trump not to attack his competitor once again. He accused her of being a “Marxist” and of having “destroyed our country” by criticizing the economic record of Joe Biden and his government team since his election in 2021. Donald Trump believes that “we've been helping the world for 70 years, it's time we got something back.” He notably called for an increase in customs duties, exactly as he did during his first term in the White House.