Former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris met yesterday night for the first, and currently only, scheduled presidential debate between the two candidates. The debate, which was moderated by ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis, lasted for about 90 minutes, with both candidates clashing sharply on the issues and accusing each other of lying.
Throughout the debate, Harris attempted to tow the line between defending President Joe Biden’s record and portraying herself as paving a “new path forward.” Trump, however, sought to tie Harris to Biden’s record, asking her why she had not implemented certain proposed policies in her three and a half years as vice president.
On campus, both the College Democrats and the College Republicans hosted debate watches on campus, both in different parts of Duncan Student Center.
In a statement to The Observer, College Democrats co-presidents Olivia Anderson and Trista Brantley praised Harris for presenting an “optimistic” vision for the country.
“Harris showed us that our best times are ahead and within every American’s reach. Creating an opportunity economy with tax cuts for the middle class, maintaining the rest of the world’s respect through defending democracy alongside our allies, and dedication to being President for Democrats and Republicans alike illustrate Harris’ plan for a brighter future,” they wrote.
Anderson and Brantley also sharply condemned Trump’s performance.
“Trump’s incoherence, inability to produce solid policy initiatives, preoccupation with being off-topic, lack of patriotism and faith in our country, and blatant disregard for facts underscore the legitimate dangers of another four years of a Trump presidency,” they wrote.
College Republicans director of political affairs, Shri Thakur, highlighted what he saw as Trump’s command of the issues, while criticizing both Harris and perceived media bias from ABC.
“Trump was strong on substance, emphasizing Harris’ failures on immigration and the economy, but was unfortunately weighed down by the novel debate format of three vs. one against him by Harris and the moderators,” Thakur wrote. “Polls will say she performed better, but the American people will see through the empty rhetoric and meaningless platitudes of the Harris campaign.”
In a statement to The Observer, the non-partisan club BridgeND, which is devoted to improving political discourse, lamented the lack of sufficient policy discussion in the debate.
“In last night’s debate, there were attempts to break through party lines and address the issues that are top of mind for the American people. We would’ve liked to see more discussion on specific policy issues,” the statement read. “We hope that the next President of the United States is open to constructive dialogue.”
The debate began with a discussion of the economy in which Harris pledged to create an “opportunity economy” and critiqued Trump’s plan to raise tariffs on imports, while avoiding discussion of the inflation. Trump, on the other hand, focused his attacks on the inflation of the Biden-Harris era and portrayed Harris’ green energy policies as stifling growth.
Immigration was to be a central topic in the debate, with President Trump frequently returning to it, even during seemingly unrelated questions, and condemning Harris and Biden for “destroying our country” by not bringing down illegal immigration. Trump promised to conduct the largest deportation operation in American history.
The debate became especially heated when the topic of abortion was raised. Trump said he was proud to bring the issue of abortion back to the states and emphasized his opposition to late-term abortion. Harris, however, criticized strict abortion laws in certain states, labeling them “Trump abortion bans,” and stating her opposition to government involvement in the matter. Harris did not say whether she would oppose late-term abortions, while Trump, although saying he did not think it would pass, did not commit to vetoing a national abortion ban.
The temperature remained high when it came to discussion of Trump’s criminal charges and his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Harris portrayed Trump as a “threat to democracy” for arguing the 2020 election was stolen, a claim he repeated during the debate, and brought up the fact that he was recently convicted of felony crimes in New York City.
Trump, however, argued he was not responsible for the violence at the United States Capitol. He called the legal charges and rhetoric against him “election interference” and “a threat to democracy,” arguing it incited the assassination attempt on him in July.
When it came to foreign policy, Trump painted the Biden-Harris position as projecting a sense of weakness through its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, which he said encouraged aggression from Russia and Iran. Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours.
Harris criticized Trump for criticizing U.S. allies and argued he was cozying up to foreign dictators. She highlighted the Biden administration’s aid to Israel and Ukraine.
