Last Updated on 11/09/2024 by Arun jain
Kamala Harris set a hook. And Donald Trump took the bait — repeatedly.
In the first head-to-head showdown between the two presidential candidates, she He was taunted for the size of his crowdHis past bankruptcies, his inherited wealth and more. Mocking Trump’s stature on the global stage, Harris claimed world leaders laughed at him – a figure aimed squarely at his personal insecurities.
The result left Trump on the defensive — and struggling for hit ground, even as the debate turned to immigration and a region friendlier to him. economy.
“I’m not signing the ban,” Trump said, as he vacillated between defending Harris’ attacks on abortion and defending the Supreme Court overturning it. Roe v. Wade. for Project 2025, an ultra-conservative agenda In what Harris portrayed as a blueprint for a Trump presidency, he said, “I don’t want to read it.”
And after Harris downplayed the size of Trump’s rallies, the Republican — who had been advised by allies to stay calm and in control — couldn’t help himself: “People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” Trump insisted. said, as Harris watched, smiled and nodded.
The opening exchanges quickly set the tone for a highly anticipated debate, with Harris stepping up to take command on a number of topics. As Trump began to measure and collect — reminiscent of his face-off with President Joe Biden — he appeared increasingly frustrated as Harris required him.
“Talk about extreme,” Harris said, after Trump recounted an elaborate recounting of baseless stories about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, a pet peeve in right-wing circles and conspiracy theorists.
Tuesday marked the first face-to-face meeting for Harris and Trump, with voters hearing from the candidates in a side-by-side matchup before Election Day. The two candidates, facing off in a race that began just seven weeks ago, remain deadlocked just days before early voting opens in several key states.
The mics were muted when the candidates did not speak Tuesday night, a point of tension in recent weeks as the Harris campaign pushed for the mics to be unmuted for the entire debate. Harris aides have warned in recent days that the format hurts the vice president, shielding viewers from hearing Trump’s direct exchanges with Harris and denying the former prosecutor the ability to fully cross-examine Trump.
But the muted mics didn’t seem to deter Harris, who used his response time to briefly fact-check Trump and respond to his attacks. Harris’ body language was also notable from the moment she stepped on stage, walking up to the former president’s podium to make sure they shook hands. And she often looked at Trump as she spoke, even as the former president avoided making eye contact with her.
“No one has to give up their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree with the government, and Donald Trump certainly shouldn’t be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said at one point, looking directly at Trump. Individual cases of women who faced health crises because they could not access abortion.
Just two months from Election Day, the stakes were high for both candidates, as Trump struggled to calibrate his message against a new opponent. And Harris, who has been forced to introduce himself to voters on a truncated timeline, has largely avoided unscripted moments on the campaign trail, coming into Tuesday night’s showdown with far less experience than Trump on the debate stage.
Polls in the run-up to the debate showed Trump and Harris effectively tied, with the race within a margin of error in some battleground states.
Amy Martin contributed to this report.
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