ANALYSIS — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump raised their voices and traded accusations Tuesday as they clashed on a range of matters, laying out contrasting visions for how they would govern as president.
Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, contended she would push policies to help middle-class families and small businesses. Trump, the GOP nominee, claimed a Harris presidency would “destroy” the economy and America’s energy sector and largely promised to bring back many of the policies from his four-year term.
Trump continued to promise a Republican plan to replace the 2010 health care overhaul law, a vow he has made since first becoming a candidate in 2015. Harris said she would “expand and grow” the law known as “Obamacare.”
The nominees also differed on Trump’s proposal to slap tariffs on imports from friends and foes alike, with Trump contending doing so would “bring in billions” and Harris countering his proposal would further drive up costs for American consumers still grappling with inflation.
Asked about his comments in recent weeks that Harris, whose father is Jamaican, is not really Black, Trump said, “I don’t really care what she is.” But he then repeated his claims before the Harris dinged his history of racially tinged comments, adding the American people “don’t want a leader who is constantly trying to have Americans point fingers at each other.”
The rivals squared off as recent polling showed a cooling off in Harris’ surge to a neck-and-neck contest since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race due to Democrats’ concerns about his age and ability to defeat Trump.
But after she snatched a narrow lead in some national polls, a New York Times-Siena College survey conducted Sept. 3-6 and released Sunday put Trump up 1 percentage point. A separate survey, from Harvard University and Harris Polling conducted Sept. 4-5, showed them tied nationally.
Under the Electoral College system, the race is expected to come down to seven swing states. Averages of recent polling in those battlegrounds shows a dead heat in those states, with Harris leading in three (Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin) and Trump ahead in three others (Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina). They were tied in what appears a must-have state for both, Pennsylvania, site of the debate. All the results, however, were well within the margins of error of the polls.
Both nominees aimed to create separation in national and swing state polls, with historical data showing debate winners typically receiving a bump of a few percentage points. Their surrogates were out all day Tuesday trying to prepare the political battlefield.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., used a television interview to blame inflation solely on Harris, adding: “Kamala Harris broke the border, it’s a mess.” Michael Tyler, communication director for the Harris campaign, also went on cable TV to warn about “Donald Trump’s dangerous, backwards-looking agenda,” adding the Democrat’s aim Tuesday night was to “contrast her vision for where she wants to take this country against that of Donald Trump.”
Here are four other takeaways from their high-stakes showdown.
Mum on Congress
Both nominees ducked questions on what they would and would not sign, should Congress send them legislation.
Trump never said what he would do, should lawmakers send him a bill that would ban abortion in all 50 states. Instead, the former president turned to the razor-thin majorities in both chambers of Congress to dismiss Harris’ pledge to sign a bill restoring protections that had been in place before the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent.
“She won’t get the vote” because it is basically “50-50” the House and Senate, Trump said, adding: “She’ll never get the vote.”
For her part, Harris did not answer Trump’s question if she would sign a bill to prohibit abortions in the seventh to ninth months. But she did say “that’s not true” moments earlier as he made the claims while her mic was off.
‘Our elections are bad’
Asked by ABC anchor David Muir what he would have done differently on Jan. 6, 2021 before the Capitol riot, Trump tried to deflect all blame.
“I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech,” Trump said, contending then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C., “were responsible.” He falsely claimed he offered 10,000 National Guard troops or active-duty soldiers to beef up security that day.
The select House committee that investigated the insurrection wrote in its final report its members found “no evidence” to support Trump’s claim.
Harris had one of her most forceful moments following Trump’s National Guard misstatement, pleading directly to Republican and independent voters who still have a hard time with the Jan. 6 riot. “On that day, the president of the United States incited a violent mob to attack our nation’s Capitol. On that day, 140 law enforcement officers were injured and some died,” Harris said.
“If that was a bridge too far for you,” she said, peering into the camera, “there is a place in our campaign for you, to stand with our country … to stand for the rule of law.”
Meantime, Trump said he was just joking last week when he said he lost the 2020 election “by a whisker,” arguing there was proof he’d won the race that courts refused to look at based on technicalities. He added in a potentially viral line Harris’ campaign is sure to use in the last two months: “Our elections are bad.”
A Harris campaign official shared that their dial groups of undecided voters in battleground states showed the former president’s rant falsely claiming he actually won in 2020 was one of his lowest moments in the debate.
‘Run on a problem’
Trump did not explain after Harris brought it up and Muir asked about why he pushed Senate Republicans to block a border and immigration package that had been negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators.
Without naming him, Harris noted the proposal was drafted by one of the chamber’s most conservative members, James Lankford of Oklahoma.
“He would rather run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” she said of Trump.
The matter of the defunct border and immigration package got wrapped up in talk about Trump’s campaign rallies, during which Harris contended his backers have begun leaving early due to “exhaustion and boredom.” The crowd-size-obsessed Trump shot back, falsely, that “no one goes to her rallies.”
Earlier during the debate, Trump harshly criticized Harris for allowing “millions of people into our country,” calling many of them “criminals.”
“They are taking over the towns. They are going in violently,” he contended. “These are the people that she and Biden let into our country. We have to get ‘em out, and we have to get ‘em out fast.” And he contended migrants in the U.S. illegally are eating citizens’ dogs in Springfield, Ohio — a claim that Muir said the city’s manager told ABC News he has no evidence, despite claims on the right, that has happened in his town.
Trump did not back down from his vow to implement the largest deportation program in American history, again saying he would send military troops and local police to remove those here illegally. The former likely would require a waiver from Congress.
‘Defending himself’
Harris repeatedly looked into the camera and contended directly to voters that Trump has yet to put forth plans that would help their lives.
“You just have to look at where we are and where we stand on the issues,” she said at one point. “Donald Trump has no plan for you because he is more interested in defending himself than he is looking out for you.”
At another point, the vice president said “Donald Trump has no plan for you,” adding she was “offering what I call an opportunity economy.”
She also hit Trump several times over what she called his “same old tired playbook,” and warned voters not to fall for his “lies” and “grievances.” And she said “that’s not true” — with her microphone turned off — multiple times.
Afterward, as did multiple times no matter the topic or question, Trump went back to immigration. He called Harris the “border czar” and contended she had “no plan” for the southern border nor the economy.
During his closing statement, Trump questioned why Harris had just spent nearly two hours talking about things would do as president but has not pursued as vice president — ignoring that an administration’s agenda is up to the sitting president.
“Why hasn’t she done it?” he asked rhetorically. “We’re a failing nation.”
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