Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris went head-to-head in their first debate for the 2024 election, held on Tuesday night.
This debate, which was broadcast on ABC News, was led by David Muir, anchor of “World News Tonight,” along with Linsey Davis, who anchors “Prime.”
The candidates greeted each other with a handshake as they walked on stage, with Harris approaching Trump’s side first to initiate the gesture.
When Harris was asked whether Americans are in a better financial position than they were four years ago, she emphasized her background from a working-class family and detailed her plans for creating an “opportunity economy” to help everyday families.
She spoke of policies to reduce housing costs and bolster small businesses but didn’t directly engage with the question’s core premise.
Trump quickly responded, stating, “She doesn’t have a plan. She got Biden’s plan, and it’s like four sentences.”
Harris ridiculed Trump’s rallies, commenting, “I’m going to actually do something really unusual and I’m going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump’s rallies. He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about how windmills cause cancer. What you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. The one thing you will not hear him talk about is you.”
Trump repeated claims, previously debunked, that recent Haitian arrivals in Ohio were consuming local pets.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in — they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country,” he said, though the city’s manager had earlier confirmed there was no truth to such claims.
Trump also harshly criticized Harris and President Joe Biden for branding him as a threat to democracy.
“I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me. They talk about democracy. I’m a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy,” Trump stated, referring to an assassination attempt against him.
He went on to clarify that his recent remarks, where he appeared to acknowledge his 2020 defeat, were meant to be sarcastic.
“Look, there’s so much proof. All you have to do is look at it… I got almost 75 million votes, the most votes any sitting president has ever gotten. I was told if I got 63, which was what I got in 2016, you can’t be beaten in the election,” he asserted.
During a question about the conflict in Gaza, Harris was asked how she would resolve the ongoing stalemate on a potential hostage release. She responded, “What we know is that this war must end. It must end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a ceasefire immediately and we need the hostages out. And so we will continue to work, around the clock, on that.”
She further emphasized the need for a long-term solution, saying, “we must chart a course for a two-state solution, and in that solution, there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and, in equal measure, for the Palestinians.”
“The one thing I will assure you always: I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran, and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But we must have a two-state solution.”
Trump was then questioned about how he would negotiate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas to secure the release of hostages and minimize civilian casualties in Gaza. He responded confidently, saying, “If I were President, it would’ve never started. If I were President, Russia would’ve never ever have gone into Ukraine and killed millions of people. But when she mentions Israel…she hates Israel. She wouldn’t even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she went to a sorority party.”
Trump doubled down, saying, “She hates Israel. If she’s President, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now, and I’ve been pretty good with predictions and I hope I’m wrong about that one.”
He continued with a grim forecast, predicting, “The whole place is going to get blown up. Arabs, Jewish people, Israel, Jewish people…Israel will be gone. Iran was broke under Donald Trump. Now Iran has 300 billion dollars because they took off all the sanctions that I had. They had no money for terror. They were broke. Now they’re a rich nation and they’re spreading that money around. I will get that settled and fast, and I will get with the war with Ukraine and Russia ended.”
In response to Trump’s statement that she dislikes Israel, Harris firmly denied the accusation, stating, “That is absolutely not true. I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people. He knows that. He’s trying to, again, divide and distract from the reality, which is: It is very well known that Donald Trump is weak and wrong on national security and foreign policy. It is well known that he admires dictators.”
{Matzav.com}