DDM’s 6 Takeaways from the Harris-Trump debate

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are seen on a screen in the spin room as they participate in a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump squared off Tuesday night in what might amount to the highest stakes public moment of the 2024 election as it was the sole presidential debate scheduled between the two.

With less than two months to go until Election Day, the presidential race is kicking into overdrive, and the debate offered Harris and Trump a vital opportunity to speak directly to Americans.

The moment came over two months after the previous presidential debate, which featured Trump and President Joe Biden, whose disastrous performance eventually led him to drop out of the race.

Tuesday night, which kicked off with a handshake initiated by Harris, covered a range of topics including the economy, abortion and immigration and required some real-time fact-checking from moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis.

The debate, which was scheduled for 90 minutes but ran longer, was hosted by ABC News at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center. Whether another debate will happen remains an open question, with a Harris campaign spokesperson posting on social media: “That was fun. Let’s do it again in October.”

Here are key takeaways from the monumental evening, including a highly coveted endorsement from a global superstar.

Swifties for Harris?

One of the night’s most notable moments came not during, but shortly after, the debate. Taylor Swift endorsed Harris in an announcement calling herself a “Childless Cat Lady” in a reference to language used by Trump’s pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

The superstar criticized Trump for sharing AI-generated images of her and her fans wearing “Swifties for Trump” shirts. One image showed Swift dressed as Uncle Sam captioned, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.”

“Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” Swift posted. “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”

“The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” she continued. “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election.”

Economy, Economy, Economy

The debate kicked off with a question about the economy, which polls have repeatedly shown to be a top issue on the minds of voters.

Harris said that she plans to build an “opportunity economy” that will include making housing more affordable and expanding the child tax credit.

She also took jabs at Trump for his plans to reduce the corporate tax rate, saying a Trump presidency would hurt middle class families.

“What we have done, and what I intend to do, is build on what we know are the aspirations and the hopes of the American people,” she said.

Trump has been trying to solidly tie Harris to the Biden administration’s record on the economy, repeatedly hitting on inflation rates.

“I had no inflation, virtually no inflation,” Trump said.

Trump is exaggerating, of course. But he knows that the economy is a point he wants to hammer home to voters who have been dealing with higher prices at the grocery store and concerns about their savings.

The candidates also touched on tariffs, with Harris saying that Trump’s proposed tariffs would be “a tax on everyday goods that you rely on to get through the month.”

Trump has proposed a tariff of 10%-20% on all imports from all countries and another tariff of 60% on all Chinese imports. On Tuesday, he claimed higher prices would fall on the countries affected by the tariffs and not on American consumers, though many economists disagree.

Trump Says He ‘Couldn’t Care Less’ About Harris’ Race

Trump was dismissive when asked about his previous comments on Harris’ race, specifically when he claimed she “happened to turn Black” for political purposes.

“I don’t care what she is. You make a big deal out of something, I couldn’t care less. Whatever she wants to be is okay with me,” Trump said.

Harris challenged Trump’s history on race relations in America, including the “birther” conspiracy Trump spread about former President Barack Obama.

“Honestly, I think it’s a 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,” Harris said.

Trump Takes Harris’ Bait

Harris tried at several points to get under Trump’s skin, and it appeared to work.

“You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter, he will talk about windmills cause cancer and what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you. You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams and your desires,” Harris said.

Trump quickly defended his rallies, saying they are the “biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

“People don’t go to her rallies,” Trump said. “There’s no reason to go.”

Harris also brought up previous Trump supporters who have since changed their minds, including his second chief of staff, John Kelly, in an effort to needle the former president.

“I’m a different kind of a person.” Trump said. “I fired most of those people, not so graciously. They did bad things or a bad job. I fired them.”

Abortion Back-and-Forth

The topic of abortion offered some of the more substantive back-and-forth of the evening.

Trump was asked about Florida’s ban on most abortions after six weeks, which he now says he supports after some waffling.

He recently said six weeks is “too short.” However, he quickly changed his tune, saying that Democrats are too “radical” on the subject and that he won’t support a proposed constitutional amendment on Florida’s ballot in November that would preserve the right to abortion in the state constitution and protect abortion until viability, about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Asked to clarify his stance on Tuesday night, he defended his recent decision to support the six-week abortion ban in Florida. He was also asked whether he would sign a national abortion ban, which he said he would not do.

“I’m not signing a ban, and there’s no reason to sign a ban because we’ve gotten what everybody wanted,” Trump said.

Trump also used the conversation to make false claims about Democrats and their policies on abortion, saying states allow abortion after birth.

“There’s no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” Davis corrected Trump.

Harris, who has made reproductive rights a major part of her campaign for president, slammed Trump’s policies on the subject as “immoral.”

“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government and Donald Trump, certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said.

Trump Gets Fact Checked – at Least a Little

Trump was fact checked several times throughout the night, including during the above-mentioned abortion discussion. He was also called out on statements about cats and dogs being eaten in Ohio, violent crime rates and losing the 2020 election.

Trump repeated a claim that’s been posted by several prominent Republicans recently that Haitian migrants in the city of Springfield, Ohio, are stealing and eating people’s pet dogs and cats.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Muir said that the city manager told ABC News that “there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

Trump also said that crime rates have skyrocketed under the Biden administration, with Muir countering: “President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is actually coming down in this country.”

And Trump backtracked on recent comments he made about losing the 2020 election by a “whisker,” claiming that he was being “sarcastic” at the time.

Muir said that multiple judges have found no evidence to support widespread voter fraud claims during the 2020 election. Harris weighed in, as well.

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

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