Photo: AFP / SAUL LOEB
Analysis - As the United States rocks and rolls its way through one of the weirdest presidential election years ever, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump met for their first debate.
Here's five quick takeaways on how it all went.
Tempting Trump's temper
One of Harris's goals was to get under Trump's skin. There's no doubt she managed to rile him a few times, particularly in an exchange where she hit him where it hurts - on crowd sizes. Talking about his rallies, Harris said, "what you'll also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom." Trump immediately launched back saying that he has the biggest rallies, and within a sentence or two claimed nobody goes to Harris's events and that people were also being bussed in and paid to go to those events that nobody goes to.
Trump did a lot of shouting and a few brusque asides to Harris - "Quiet please," he interjected at one point, sure to pop up in a few hundred memes on TikTok. Given opportunities to soften his image, Trump repeatedly refused. Asked if he had any regrets about the US Capitol attack on 6 January 2021, he instead went on a long side digression about Democrat Nancy Pelosi. And somehow, despite it all, he continues to insist the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Trump campaign staffers must be flipping out over Trump going into election denial mode pic.twitter.com/n2JBPHsj4p
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 11, 2024
Harris blasts abortion restrictions, Swift weighs in
Perhaps Harris's strongest, most emotional moment of the night was discussing abortion and women's health care in post-Roe V. Wade America. "The government and Donald Trump should not be telling a woman what to do with her body," Harris said, recollecting harrowing stories of women who went through miscarriages and rape victims.
Pressed on his shifting position on abortion, former Pres. Trump falsely claims some states allow for the killing of an infant after birth.
— ABC News (@ABC) September 11, 2024
@LinseyDavis: "There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born." https://t.co/cp2VHYZOIH#ABCDebate pic.twitter.com/WJAmDpotO0
Trump repeated falsehoods about "abortion being allowed up to and after birth" and was even fact-checked by the moderator at one point. There was confusion over whether Trump supports a national abortion ban or would veto one if proposed, but it was clear the issue feels personal for Harris. Harris widely leads with women voters according to recent polling. In the moments after the debate, pop megastar Taylor Swift also endorsed Harris, just to rub it in.
BREAKING: Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris after this debate, signed a “Childless Cat Lady” pic.twitter.com/oHMRaUlGjj
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) September 11, 2024
Trump pitches to pet owners who are worried about their pets being eaten
If you were having a drinking game for today's debate and took a shot every time Trump mentioned "immigrants," I hope you put your affairs in order first. As in June's debate, Trump was clearly very focused on bringing up illegal immigration to the United States and reports of crime by immigrants, drawing it into pretty much every topic if he could. While immigration is a key issue - although numbers across the Mexican border have dropped from record highs earlier this year under the Biden presidency - Trump sees it as a valuable campaign bludgeon to use against the Democrats.
Yet the rhetoric took a rather surreal turn when Trump spread false social media rumours that immigrants are eating pets in Ohio after Harris criticised him for tanking an immigration bill. The moderator interjected that ABC News had seen no evidence of pets being abused by immigrants.
Anyone who had presidential candidates yelling about people eating pets on your 2024 bingo card, you're a winner.
It's all about the vibe
Compared to Biden's unsteady and ultimately candidacy-ending performance in June, Harris came off as broadly confident, although she did still have an occasional tendency to meander and sometimes her attempts to link her own personal story to broader policy pictures felt awkward. Despite his fluid take on facts, Trump's never-ending self-confidence never faltered. Again and again Harris spoke of conciliatory attempts to bring Americans together. The question is whether that message will hit home for voters.
Trump continued the same relentlessly dark campaigning vibe he has been pushing for years, although there is a question as to whether or not Americans are getting a bit tired of the doom and gloom. But for all those Americans who felt stymied by the Groundhog Day syndrome of a Biden-Trump rematch, it felt like there was a much different energy in the room today.
Want to know what they'd do? Better luck next time
Both candidates ducked and dodged on certain specifics as to what they would actually do. Harris mentioned the phrase "opportunity economy" several times but was vague on other issues, such as what she would do to end the Israel/Gaza conflict. Trump was very focused on litigating the past rather than talking about what he'd do in a second term, other than repeated claims he would end the wars in Ukraine and Israel almost instantly and do something about all those immigrants.
But will it make a difference?
Polls have shown the race consistently close, a fact that baffles many observers but also shows Trump's incredibly strong appeal to a large section of America. It's doubtful any Trump true believers or Harris fans jumped ship today, so the question really is, how does that thin slice of the population who are undecided feel?
The days ahead will tell, but 90 minutes of arguing, policies and posturing certainly gives them a lot to think about.
