The Latest: Harris-Trump debate sets up sprint to election day as first ballots go out in Alabama
Kamala Harris a powerful argument made against Donald Trump on Tuesday in their first and perhaps only presidential debate, repeatedly challenging him in an event that their very different views for the country on abortion, immigration and American democracy.
Less than two months before Election Day and just hours before the first ballots are mailed in Alabama on Wednesday, the debate offered the clearest insight yet into a presidential race that has been repeatedly disrupted.
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Officials including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump gathered to mark the 23rd anniversary of the attacks in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania.
It happened as they stood next to President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance at the 9/11 memorial, where leaders gather to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.
Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, walked across the stage to shake Trump’s hand before the campaign debate began Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
When President Joe Biden awkward comments about abortion On the debate stage this summer, it was widely seen as a missed opportunity — a failure, even — on a powerful and motivating issue for Democrats at the ballot box.
The difference was clearly visible Tuesday night when Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a powerful defense of abortion rights during her presidential debate with Republican Donald Trump.
Harris described the dire medical situations women have found themselves in since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the nation’s right to abortion in 2022. Harris immediately blamed Trump, who recalibrated the Supreme Court to the conservative majority that made the landmark ruling during his tenure.
Women, Harris told the national audience, are refused care as a result.
“You want to talk about what people wanted? Pregnant women who wanted to carry a pregnancy to term, who had a miscarriage, who couldn’t get emergency room care because providers were afraid they were going to jail, and she’s bleeding to death in a car in the parking lot?” Harris said.
The moment was a reminder that Harris is uniquely positioned to speak about this hot, national topic in a way that Biden, an 81-year-old Catholic who has long opposed abortion, never had before. felt nice to do.
▶ Read more about Harris’ debate comments on abortion rights
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were kidnapping and eating pets by using the kind of inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric he promoted during his campaigns.
There is no evidence that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio community are doing that, officials say. But during the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump specifically named Springfield, Ohio, the city at the center of the claims, saying immigrants were taking over the city.
“They eat the dogs. They eat the cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there,” he said.
Harris called Trump “extreme” and laughed after his remark. Debate moderators pointed out that city officials have said the claims are not true.
Trump’s comments echo claims made by his campaign, including his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, and other Republicans. The claims gained attention this week when Vance posted on social media that his office has received “a lot of inquiries” about Haitian migrants kidnapping pets. Vance acknowledged Tuesday that it’s possible “all of these rumors turn out to be false.”
Officials have said there are no reliable or detailed reports of the claims, even as Trump and his allies use them to reinforce racist stereotypes about black and brown immigrants.
▶ Read more about Trump’s comments about immigrants in Ohio
Taylor Swift, one of the biggest stars in the music industry, endorsed Kamala Harris shortly before his presidency after the debate was over on tuesday evening.
“I think she is a steady, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” Swift wrote in an Instagram postcontaining a link to a voter registration website.
Swift has a devoted following among young women, a key demographic in the November election, and her latest tour has more than $1 billion in ticket sales. In half an hour, the post received more than 2.3 million likes.
She added a photo of herself holding her cat Benjamin Button, and captioned the post, “Childless Cat Lady.” The comment is a reference to the three-year-old comments made by JD VanceDonald Trump’s running mate, about childless women who do not have an equal stake in the future of the country.
▶ Read more about Swift’s approval