As 9 p.m. struck in Pennsylvania last night, the second presidential debate in the 2024 election cycle began. It was the first between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
It was also Harris’ first-ever in-person, public interaction with Trump.
At the start, unlike President Joe Biden, she walked to her opponent’s side of the stage and shook his hand.
“Kamala Harris,” said the vice president. “Let’s have a good debate.”
That set the tone for both candidates for the next 90 minutes.
This week, Harris posted her policy platform on her website. A New York Times/Siena poll also became the first major non-partisan poll to show Trump leading the race in about a month; Harris tried to introduce herself to voters on the debate stage.
CNN’s post-debate polling showed that this was a successful night for Harris, with 63% of viewers saying she won it. Its pre-debate numbers showed a 50-50 split.
Harris’ approval rating also jumped according to the poll from 39% to 45% after the debate. Trump’s dropped from 41% to 39%.
The former president told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins after the event, “This was my best debate. We won every poll that came out tonight.”
The night began with a question that is key to many in battleground Pennsylvania and the rest of the country: the economy.
Harris spoke on her proposed ‘opportunity economy,’ which is headlined by the restoration of the child tax credit to provide $6,000 to the family of newborns and tax deductions of up to $50,000 for new small businesses.
Trump championed his expansion of tariffs on international trade and blamed immigration, the topic he spoke about the most according to the New York Times. This included accusations of migrants taking away “black” and “union” jobs.
The former president also made some false statements.
When asked if he would veto a national abortion ban, Trump did not give a clear answer. He falsely said that some states are allowing the procedure up to the ninth month and even after birth.
In what many called an attempt to bait Trump, Harris said, “People start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.”
Trump’s response ended as he echoed vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were abducting and “eating dogs.” No evidence has been shown to prove this, as moderator David Muir pointed out. Trump told Muir, “I’ve seen people on television.”
Trump also said he had “nothing to do” with Jan. 6.
Moderators also questioned Harris’s changing policy views on issues like fracking. Trump recalled her support of a fracking ban in 2019 during her presidential run.
“She has a plan to not allow fracking in Pennsylvania or anywhere else,” he said.
He added that until recently, “She has a plan to defund the police, she has a plan to confiscate everybody’s gun.”
Harris responded by saying she supports the controversial process of removing oil from rock. “I’ve made very clear my position on fracking,” she said.
And then she debunked the former president’s claim that she wanted to take everyone’s guns away. “Tim Walz and I are both gun owners,” she said. “We’re not taking anyone’s guns away.”
Harris was also asked about her former support a government-run healthcare system.
“What we need to do is maintain and grow the Affordable Care Act,” she said, then added: “When Donald Trump was president, 60 times, he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.”
Trump has promised since his 2016 presidential campaign that he will kill and replace the act.
“If we can come up with a plan that’s gonna cost our people, our population, less money, and be better healthcare than Obamacare then I would absolutely do it,” said Trump. “But until then, I’d run it as good as it can be run.”
When pressed about whether he has a plan, Trump said, “I have concepts of a plan. I’m not president right now.”
On foreign policy, Harris reiterated her stance concerning the Israel-Hamas war. She urged the need for a ceasefire and emphasized her support of Israel and its need to defend itself.
Trump said that the war, along with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would have not happened had he won in 2020. He said “I know Putin very well,” and claimed that Harris “hates Israel.”
The former president took more personal jabs at Harris. He called her a “Marxist” and put her race into question again by saying, “I read where she was not black. And then I read that she was black.” That’s up to her.”
He also labeled her “the worst vice president of all time.”
How last night will affect polls remains to be seen. However, the image of a composed Harris alongside Trump in distress, given that as of now there is no other scheduled debate, may not bode well for the former president in the final sprint to election day on Nov. 5.
Less than an hour after the debate ended, Harris’ campaign called for another matchup.
“VP Kamala Harris is ready for a second debate,” the campaign stated. “Is Donald Trump?”
