By: Sahil Muthukrishnan

Sports Editor 

On Sept. 10th, Vice President and Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump participated in this year’s first presidential debate after President Joe Biden stepped out of the race. ABC News hosted and moderated the debate with anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis at the Philadelphia National Constitution Center. Over 67 million people viewed the long-awaited event nationwide.

After the opening handshake, the candidates met onstage and took their podiums. The debate moderators questioned the candidates about their policies and relevant past actions as the debate began. For each question, a candidate spoke for two minutes. After a response, the other candidate had a two-minute opportunity to refute whatever claims the first candidate made. Former President Trump initially relied heavily on linking the Vice President to the current President: “She copied Biden’s plan…She is Biden. She’s trying to get away from Biden.” Harris denied this claim: “I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump.” Vice President Harris frequently taunted former President Trump into talking about inconsequential topics such as rally sizes: “And what you will…notice is that people start leaving his [Trump’s] rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.” This jab from Harris prompted the former president to use a minute and a half of his response time to defend the size of his rallies. After this comment, the former President seemed to lose his footing. 

Notably, the moderators fact-checked Trump 33 times and Harris only once during the entire debate. These fact checks came during issues such as violent crime, immigration, abortion, healthcare, and more. Trump claimed that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were “Eating the dogs…They’re eating the cats. They’re eating…the pets of the people that live there.” The moderators fact-checked this claim, as there is no current evidence of that happening. Vice President Harris then repeatedly linked the former President to dictators such as Putin, saying, “It is well known that he admires dictators, wants to be a dictator…he said of Putin that he can do whatever the hell he wants and go into Ukraine…It is well known he exchanged love letters with Kim Jong Un. And it is absolutely well known that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again…they can manipulate you with flattery and favors.” Former President Trump fired back, “She’s the one that caused it, that’s weak on national security by allowing every nation last month for the year, 168 different countries sending people into our country…Putin endorsed her last week. Said I hope she wins. And I think he meant it. Because what he’s gotten away with is absolutely incredible.”

After additional back and forth, both candidates gave their closing statements. Harris focused on assuring the American people that the future under her would be bright, while Trump claimed that Harris had no meaningful plans for the future and that her inaction in the past proved that she would not make meaningful change. Both candidates made strong statements, ensuring the race will be competitive this year.

(Sources: ABC News, CBS News, PBS News)