The first and probably the only debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday had the former President and the current Vice President spar over abortion rights, border issues, the economy and even the Russia-Ukraine war. The debate was hosted by ABC News which also employed moderators to fact-check on claims made by both contenders.
The 90-minute debate, where both contenders met for the first time, saw Trump peddle conspiracy theories and take a personal jab at Harris. At the same time, she managed to get a rise of the GOP nominee by mocking him on his rally crowd sizes and stance on abortion.
The handshake
The debate, which happens just two months before the Election Day, saw Harris greeting Trump with a handshake. She walked over to Trump at his podium, extended her hand and introduced herself as Kamala Harris. It is the first time Harris and Trump have ever met in person.
"Let’s have a good debate.” Trump responded: "Nice to see you. Have fun."
Economy
Harris began emphasising her plan to help American families, stressing on building an "opportunity economy" which includes affordable housing and expansion of the child tax credit. She attacked Trump’s proposals, such as providing tax cuts to corporations, which she claims would hurt American middle-class families.
Trump, on the other hand, repeated his claims to impose tariffs on other countries, such as China. He hit out at the Biden administration for the high inflation rates, which he said had been a disaster for the country.
Mocking Trump's rallies
Harris got a rise out of Trump by mocking his rallies, where she said he would say bizarre things such as windmills cause cancer. She said the attendees would leave out of exhaustion and boredom. Trump retorted by stating that his rallies were "the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics."
'Immigrants eating cats, dogs'
Most notable of Trump's claims in the debate was how he falsely claimed that immigrants in the country illegally were killing and eating people's pets in the city of Springfield, Ohio. This was a conspiracy theory that did rounds on social media. "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs! The people that came in, they're eating the cats!" Trump said.
However, to his dismay, ABC's moderators quickly pointed out that the Springfield city officials said those reports were untrue.
Assassination attempt
Trump made another bizarre claim as he suggested that the series of criminal prosecutions of him led to the assassination attempt against him in July. His claim comes as the FBI still works on what led the shooter to open fire at the former President. "I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things they say about me," he said.
