The Democratic vice president opened the duel with a show of power by marching across the stage to Trump’s lectern to shake his hand.
“Kamala Harris,” she said, introducing herself as the two met for the first time. “Let’s have a good debate.”
“Nice to see you. Have fun,” the former Republican president replied.
This exchange set the tone for the 90-minute debate that followed: Harris at times controlled the conversation, provoking Trump with barbs about his economic policies, his refusal to concede his 2020 election defeat, and even his behavior at his rallies.
Trump, who was initially reserved, became increasingly annoyed as the evening progressed. And a significant moment occurred after the two candidates left the stage, when megastar Taylor Swift said she would vote for Harris.
Some insights from a historical debate:
From the first handshake, Harris took on the fight against Trump in a way that Biden could not
In her first response, the former prosecutor said Trump’s tariffs would effectively create a sales tax on the middle class. Soon after, she accused Trump of leading the worst attack on American democracy since the Civil War – the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. She accused him of dictating to women what they can do with their bodies. And she mocked Trump’s praise of dictators “who would eat you for lunch.”
With such attacks, Harris controlled much of the conversation, baiting Trump into responses that were sometimes simply meant to vent his anger, but at other times were reminders of his wild rhetoric and fixation on the past.
“They actually lost that election,” Harris said of the 2020 race, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden but still insists he won. “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people,” she said, referring to Biden’s vote total.
But Harris may have gotten under her opponent’s skin the most when she attacked his appearances at his rallies, noting that people often left the venues early.
Trump became visibly more irritated and insisted that his rallies were larger than theirs.
A smiling Harris repeatedly redirected her message from Trump back to the American people.
“You’re not going to hear him talk about your needs, your dreams, your wants and your desires,” Harris said. “And I’m telling you, I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first.”
Trump had a label for Harris: “She is Biden”
Although Trump was often on the defensive, he made the core message of his campaign clear: inflation and immigration are hitting Americans hard.
Immigrants, Trump said, have “destroyed the fabric of our country.”
He has repeatedly linked Harris to Biden.
“She is Biden,” he said.
“The worst inflation we’ve ever had,” Trump added. “A terrible economy because inflation made it so bad. And it can’t get away with that.”
Harris replied: “Of course, I am not Joe Biden and I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.”
Trump also attacked Harris for deviating from some progressive positions she took in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries and urged voters not to believe the more moderate tone she is taking in this campaign.
“She follows my philosophy now. I was actually going to send her a MAGA hat,” he said, referring to the red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps worn by many of his supporters. “But if she were ever elected, she would change that.”
Swift leaves the sidelines
One of the most consequential moments occurred in a post on one of the most followed accounts on Instagram, shortly after the debate ended.
Swift has a loyal following among young women, a demographic that Harris will need to mobilize in large numbers. She called Harris a “gifted leader” and urged her fans to educate themselves and make their own decisions, but “I did my research and made my choice.”
Trump on the race issue and Harris on the attack
ABC anchor David Muir asked Trump directly about his claim last month that Harris had been “blacked out” after the fact. Harris is black and South Asian and a graduate of Howard University, a historically black university in Washington.
Trump tried to downplay the issue. “I don’t care what it is. If you make a big deal out of something, I don’t care at all,” Trump said.
Harris, however, had her chance, rattling off a long list of Trump’s racism scandals: his court settlement for discrimination against prospective black tenants in his New York City apartment buildings in the 1970s; his ad in the 1980s calling for the execution of black and Latino teenagers – who had been wrongfully arrested – in the Central Park jogger case; and his false claims that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
“I think the American people want better than this, want better than this,” Harris said.
Trump accused Harris of trying to “divide” people and dismissed her claims as outdated and irrelevant.
“That person has to look back 40, 50 years, because today there is nothing,” he said.
Harris and Trump stuck to their positions on abortion
Harris made a forceful defense of abortion rights, perhaps the most important issue for Democrats since Trump’s nominations created a Supreme Court majority to strike down the constitutional right to abortion. Her sharp arguments contrasted vividly with President Joe Biden’s rambling comments on the issue during his debate with Trump in June.
“The administration and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said, painting a vivid picture of women facing medical complications, heartbreaking decisions and the need to travel to another state for an abortion.
Trump defended himself just as fiercely, saying he had returned the issue to the states, an outcome he said many Americans wanted. But he struggled with accuracy, repeating the false claim that Democrats support abortions even after babies are born. He stuck to it even after being corrected by moderator Linsey Davis.
“I did a great service in doing that. It took courage to do that,” Trump said of overturning Roe v. Wade and constitutionally protecting abortion. “And the Supreme Court had great courage to do that. And I give those six justices tremendous credit.”
Polls have shown that there is significant opposition to repealing Roe, and voters punished Republicans for it in recent elections.
Who’s talking now?
Trump took a point from Harris and turned it right back at her, objecting after Harris interrupted.
“Wait a minute, I’m talking now,” Trump said. “Does this sound familiar?”
In doing so, he reinforced a statement Harris had already used in the 2020 vice presidential debate against Mike Pence, saying, “Mr. Vice President, I am speaking.”
A message to the center
In a divided country, the election will ultimately be decided by a small group of swing voters in just a handful of states. And to reflect this fact, Harris made an explicit appeal to voters across the political spectrum – including Republicans.
She pointed out that she is a gun owner. She mentioned the “late, great John McCain,” a reference to the Republican senator and war hero from Arizona who Trump criticized for being captured by enemy soldiers. And she listed the many Republicans who formerly served in the Trump administration and are now supporting her campaign.
Trump, on the other hand, made little effort to appeal to centrist voters and ignored the calls for unity that were prominent in his speech at the party convention in the summer.
Harris used the January 6 attack on the Capitol to make another explicit appeal to undecided voters.
“It’s time to close the chapter,” she said. “And if that was too much for you, we have a place for you in our campaign.”
A reserved Trump – except when he wasn’t
Democrats hoped and Republicans feared that Trump would lose his composure on stage. At first he didn’t, but as Harris got under his skin, he slipped into dark territory.
Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets – ABC’s Muir pointed out that local authorities say this is not the case – by arguing that the Biden-Harris administration is welcoming dangerous immigrants.
When Harris asked him about the numerous criminal and civil cases against him, Trump also became enraged. He accused Harris and Biden of staging all of the cases.
“I probably got a bullet in the head because of the things they said about me,” Trump said, referring to the assassination attempt in July by a gunman whose motives are unknown.
When asked if he was responsible for the Capitol riots, Trump raised his voice, blaming both Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, then Speaker of the House, and the Democratic mayor of Washington. He said the rioters were “treated so poorly” and again denied that he lost the 2020 election.
Harris responded: “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people, that has to be made clear, and it’s obvious that he’s having a very difficult time processing that.”
An early skirmish with the economy
The debate began with an unexpectedly bizarre exchange about the economy: Harris attacked Trump for his plans to impose comprehensive tariffs and for the trade deficit he had caused as president; Trump accused Harris of inflation, which he said was the highest in the country’s history.
Trump said people look back on the economy of his presidency with affection. “I created one of the greatest economies in the history of our country,” he said. Harris bluntly told viewers: “Donald Trump has no plan for you.”
According to an August poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs, Americans trust Trump slightly more than Harris on economic issues.
Gender is an afterthought
Harris would be the first female president of the United States. But her gender played only a minor role during the debate.
She made no mention of the historic nature of her candidacy. Neither did Trump.
And there were no performative moments where gender played a role. Who could forget Trump’s decision to stand behind his last female opponent, Hillary Clinton, during a debate in 2016? He also called Clinton an “evil woman.” Afterward, Clinton said she was creeped out.
But on Tuesday evening, both candidates remained behind their lecterns as instructed and there were no explicit jabs regarding gender.
