What happened at the Harris-Trump debate? Here are the key takeaways

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump clashed over the economy, immigration and reproductive rights in Tuesday night’s presidential debate, as both candidates sought to make their case for winning the White House in November.

The contentious face-off, held just days before early voting is set to begin in some states and less than two months before Election Day, was highly consequential for both candidates.

For Trump, he’s seeking to regain his footing after Harris’ last-minute entry into the race erased the lead he enjoyed over U.S. President Joe Biden. For Harris, she had to define herself to voters who are unfamiliar with her record and stance on major issues.

Here are the key takeaways from the debate.

Harris used a question about her plans to improve the economy by saying she would extend the tax cut for families with children and a tax deduction for small businesses, while attacking Trump’s plans to impose broad tariffs on foreign importers as a “sales tax” on everyday goods that the American people will ultimately pay.

Trump criticized the high inflation and the rising cost of living under the Biden administration and claimed the tariffs instead would bring more money back into the country that can boost the American economy.

Trump also pushed back on Harris’ claims that he oversaw an economic downturn during the pandemic, calling the jobs recovered under Biden since then “bounce-back” jobs.

But Harris defended the administration’s approach and promised the country was back on the right track.

“What we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess,” Harris said.

Later, during a discussion on health care, Trump wouldn’t say how he would improve the Affordable Care Act or replace it with a different plan.

“I have concepts of a plan,” he said. “I’m not president right now.”

The future of reproductive rights in the U.S. was a major topic, with Trump trying to frame the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court as a victory for the country.

“I did a great service in doing it,” he said. “It took courage to do it, and the Supreme Court had great courage in doing it.”

Trump twice refused to answer directly if he would veto a national abortion ban if it was passed by Congress, first insisting it would never reach his desk and then suggesting his running mate JD Vance misspoke when saying Trump would do so.

He also repeatedly falsely claimed that Democrats want to legalize abortions in final trimester and “execute the baby even after birth,” which moderator Linsey Davis noted was false, saying: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”

Abortions that happen late in a pregnancy are exceptionally rare and typically are performed to save the life of the mother or in cases of severe fetal abnormality.

Harris promised to restore Roe’s protections through legislation — something Trump said would never pass Congress — and frequently returned to the human cost of abortion restrictions and bans in over 20 states, some of which have no exceptions for rape or incest.

“Understand what that means: a survivor of a crime, a violation to their body, does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next,” she said.

“That is immoral, and one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree.”

Harris gave a measured response when asked about the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, vowing to continue supporting Israel’s right to self defence while also pushing for a ceasefire, the return of hostages taken by Hamas and a two-state solution.

“Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters because it is also true far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” she said.

Trump focused on Harris, claiming she “hates Israel” and “hates the Arab population,” without saying how he would try to end the conflict.

Later, he wouldn’t say if he wants Ukraine to win the war with Russia despite being asked directly multiple times, only saying “I want this war to stop.”

He claimed he could get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sit down and negotiate an end to the war.

Harris vowed to see the war through and ensure Ukraine beats back Russia’s invasion, and claimed Trump would be manipulated by Putin and other dictators.

“I believe the reason that Donald Trump says that this war would be over within 24 hours is because he would just give it up,” she said.

When asked if there was anything he regretted from Jan. 6, 2021, Trump did not condemn the attack on the U.S. Capitol that day by his supporters to interrupt the certification of U.S. President Joe Biden’s victory.

He also claimed his recent statements where he appeared to concede he lost that election were “said sarcastically” and repeated his false claims of voter fraud.

Harris, asked about Trump’s statement on social media over the weekend promising prosecutions and “long term prison sentences” for election officials over “cheating,” warned the former president would try and upend the will of voters again if he loses.

“Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people, so let’s be clear about that, and clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that,” she said.

Trump brought up a conspiracy theory that conservatives have floated to raise the issue of illegal immigration that claims Haitian migrants in Ohio are eating residents’ pet dogs and cats.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” he said. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country.”

The city manager office in Springfield, Ohio, issued a statement saying it had no such reports, which moderator David Muir pointed out.

Trump responded he had “seen people on television” making the claims.

Harris laughed in response.

“Talk about extreme,” she said. “When we listen to this kind of rhetoric, when the issues that affect the American people are not being addressed, I think the choice is clear in this election.”

Trump repeatedly accused Harris and the Biden administration of allowing millions of illegal immigrants into the country, many of whom he claims are criminals.

Harris pointed out Trump told his allies in Congress to kill a bipartisan immigration reform bill that was negotiated in the U.S. Senate.

Despite microphones being muted when it wasn’t their turn to speak, Trump often interrupted the moderators and was able to get the last word on most topics.

At one point, Trump told Harris “quiet, please” as she tried to respond to him. “I’m talking now, sound familiar?” he said to another interjection, harkening back to a moment when Harris shut down an interruption from then-vice president Mike Pence in a 2020 debate.

Asked about his comments questioning if Harris, who is Black and South Asian, “turned Black,” Trump stumbled over an answer claiming he “couldn’t care less” about her racial identity: “Whatever she wants to be is okay with me.”

Harris responded by calling out the “tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president, who has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people.”

In one moment, Harris turned to Trump and said that as vice president, she had spoken to foreign leaders, “And they say you’re a disgrace.”

Harris also got Trump to bristle when she said some attendees at his rallies leave before they are over “out of exhaustion and boredom.”

“People don’t leave my rallies,” he snapped back. “We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

Trump at one point launched into an attack on Biden, questioning his mental acuity by making the claim that Biden “doesn’t even know he’s alive.”

“I think it’s important to remind the former president, you’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me,” Harris responded.

—With files from the Associated Press