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PHILADELPHIA: Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump met for their first and possibly only debate on Tuesday, which could have a significant impact on the Nov. 5 election as polls show a tight race.

Here are the insights from the debate:

RILING HER RIVAL

Harris made sure to get under Trump's skin, as her campaign predicted.

She invited viewers to attend a Trump rally, where she said Trump would say outlandish things like windmills cause cancer (something he actually said), and where, she quipped, attendees left exhausted and bored.

Trump, who prides himself on the crowds he draws, was clearly upset.

“My rally, we have the biggest rally, the most incredible rally in the history of politics,” he said. He accused Harris of busing attendees to her rallies.

Trump then falsely claimed that immigrants in the country illegally were killing and eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio, an unsubstantiated claim that circulated on social media and was amplified by Trump's vice president, JD Vance.

“They eat dogs in Springfield!” The people who came are eating cats!” Trump said. “They eat the pets of the people who live there.

City officials in Springfield said the reports were false, which ABC anchors pointed out after Trump's comments.

“Talk about extreme,” Harris replied with a laugh.

PLAYING DEFENSE

Another of Harris' goals, as a former California prosecutor, was to call out Trump for his past actions, particularly his efforts to swing the 2020 election.

After an hour of debate, her strategy seemed to be paying off. Trump was constantly on the defensive.

When asked about the siege of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, he insisted that he “had nothing to do with it except that I was asked to give a speech”. He also falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election.

Harris used Trump's actions as an argument for the country to turn the page.

“Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people, so let's be clear, and obviously he's having a very hard time processing this, but we can't afford to have a president of the United States who is trying, as he has in the past, to subvert the will of the voters in a free and fair election,” Harris said .

The vice president took some more digs at Trump, saying world leaders are “laughing at” him and calling him a disgrace — language Trump himself has used at rallies about how he says other countries view President Joe Biden.

Minutes later, Trump exploded, claiming that Harris received “no votes” in claiming the Democratic nomination and suggesting that she replaced Biden as part of some kind of coup.
“They hate her,” Trump said of Biden. “He can't stand her.”

Those exchanges may have helped Harris' argument that Trump lacked, as she put it, the “temperament” to be president.

RACIAL DIVISION

Deep in the debate came the long-simmering topic of race. Trump was asked why he publicly questioned Harris' dual heritage as a black and South Asian woman.

“I don't care what it is,” he replied. “I read she was Black. Then I read she wasn't Black.”

When asked for a response, Harris accused Trump of using race to divide Americans throughout his career. She cited how he and his father turned away black tenants in the 1970s and how Trump led a public outcry against five young black and Latino men who were wrongfully convicted of attacking a jogger in New York's Central Park in 1989.

He recently openly questioned whether President Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen, Harris noted.

“I think it's a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently tried throughout his career to use race to divide the American people,” she said.

“I think the American people want something better,” Harris added. “We don't want a leader who is constantly trying to get the American people to point the finger at themselves.”

Instead of trying to defend his record, Trump turned back to the economy and tried to pin Biden's economic policies on Harris. “They're trying to get away from Biden,” he said.

Harris used the attack to reposition herself as an agent of change.

“Clearly, I'm not Joe Biden, and I'm certainly not Donald Trump,” Harris said, “and what I'm offering is a new generation of leadership for our country.”

HANDSHAKE

A question was raised in the debate about how Harris and Trump, who have never met, would greet each other.

Harris solved the problem for good. She walked over to Trump at his podium, held out her hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris.”

For Harris, it was a disarming way to address a man who had spent weeks insulting her race and gender.

SPARING ON THE ECONOMY

In the opening minutes of the debate, Trump and Harris engaged in a battle over one of the issues that is top of mind for voters: the economy.

Harris detailed the economic policies she has implemented in recent weeks, which include significant tax breaks for small startups. In his comments, Trump focused on the tariffs, saying they would protect the U.S. economy from unfair foreign competition.

While both sides hit it off, Harris first spoke on where she trails Trump in terms of voter confidence. She appeared to put the former president on the back foot, and Trump essentially played defense on one of his strongest issues.

“He doesn't have a plan,” Trump said after Harris' initial comments. “It's like run, look, run.

DEVELOPMENT ON ABORTION

The two candidates have also engaged in a fractious debate over abortion, a topic where polls show Harris with the upper hand.

Trump defended a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended constitutional protections for abortion and returned the issue to individual states, falsely claiming it was an outcome desired by both Republicans and Democrats. Democrats have long supported the constitutional right to abortion.

“I have done a great service by doing so. It took courage to do that,” Trump said.

Trump claimed that some states allow abortion of babies after birth, which was corrected by ABC News anchor Linsey Davis.

Harris drew some outrage over Trump's claim that abortion becoming a state's rights issue was a popular outcome, citing states that have passed restrictive bans.

“Is this what the people wanted?” Harris asked. “People being denied emergency room care because health care providers are afraid they'll be hauled off to jail?”

Trump was asked if he would veto a federal abortion ban if one were passed by Congress. He insisted that would never happen, but refused to definitively answer the question.

WORLDS APART

One of the most heated political debates came when Trump and Harris clashed over how they would handle Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The candidates' answers revealed the extent to which their views on America's role in the world differ fundamentally.

Trump refused to say he wanted Ukraine to win the war, even when pressed by ABC host David Muir, saying only that he wanted to wrap up the conflict as soon as possible.

Harris fired back, claiming that Trump actually wanted Ukraine's quick and unconditional surrender.

“If Donald Trump was president, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now,” Harris said.

'ARMED JUSTICE

In one heated exchange, Trump and Harris accused each other of conspiring to “weaponize” the Justice Department to go after their enemies.

Trump said the charges he faces for conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss and mishandling classified documents — as well as his conviction for forging documents related to secret payments to a porn star — are the result of a conspiracy cooked up by Harris and Biden . There is no evidence for this claim.

Harris hit back by pointing out that Trump has promised to prosecute his enemies if he wins a second term.

“Understand that this is someone who has openly said that he's going to end, quote, end the Constitution,” Harris said.

The exchange underscored that Harris and Trump see the stakes in this election as existential. Both see their opponent as a threat to democracy itself.