Last Updated on 11/09/2024 by Arun jain
In 2016 Hillary Clinton was debating with former President Donald Trump said That if he were elected president, he would appoint two or three anti-abortion Supreme Court justices who would rule on Roe v. Will overturn Wade “automatically”.
On Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris pressed him for an answer.
“They did exactly what he intended,” she said, referring to the justices, before laying out the consequences of the post-abortion rights rollback in searing and painful detail.
“One doesn’t have to give up their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree, the government and Donald Trump, certainly, shouldn’t be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said.
It was First big match Their first and only scheduled debate, which unfolded on a small stage in Philadelphia where Trump did his best to avoid seeing his opponent.
And it set the tone for a night in which Harris repeatedly shoved Trump into turf where he was so uncomfortable, she left him on the defensive as she pressed her case.
As Harris drew on emotion by talking about women suffering miscarriages or young adultery victims, Trump became emotional — though it was anger that seemed to be the emotion of the night for him.
Harris said Trump would be willing to sign a national abortion ban, which he has Earlier showed readiness to supportHe accused her of lying. He tried to change the subject to student loans, before changing it back to abortion. Claiming to be a pioneer on “fertilization” and IVF, he forced Harris to deflect when he tried to pin her down on whether she would limit abortions to the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, but she soon sidestepped the issue. turned on and forced him to say whether he would veto a national ban.
Harris put Trump on the defensive for much of the rest of the evening, on everything from his criminal cases to the size of the crowds at his rallies. In what was her one chance to define herself, she turned the inquiry back to Trump with a barrage of prepared attacks. Each time, she stuck close to the same theme, casting herself as an agent of progress and Trump as someone from the past who could do real damage to people’s lives.
Trump also made his main argument against Harris.
“She’s going to do all these wonderful things,” Trump said. “Why didn’t he do it? He’s been there for three and a half years.”
The problem for him was that he did not do so until his final statement in the closing moments of the debate.
Look what they did to her
Within moments of the discussion wrapping up, a childless cat lady Vice President Harris seconded. Yes, Taylor Swift weighed in on the 2024 election, so did the caption on an Instagram photo of the musician and one of her cats, Benjamin Button.
You can read more from my colleagues here.
Talk by the numbers
My colleagues carefully tracked the speaking time during the discussion. Here’s what they found:
Trump spoke more than Harris — 43:03, to her 37:31 — but Harris spent more time on the attack.
Harris spent 17:25 minutes attacking Trump, while Trump spent 12:54 minutes attacking Harris.
At over 10 minutes the economy was discussed on stage more than any other issue. The abortion was next, at 7:48
A night of attacks and baiting
Here’s what else to read about the debate.
Post Harris put Trump on the defensive on abortion — and kept him there appeared first New York Times.