On September 12, 2024 U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump met in-person for the first time in history to debate in Philadelphia. With the U.S. presidential election just around the corner, stakes were high, drawing in over 67 million viewers across the world, eagerly awaiting the showdown.
The debate opened with Vice President Harris addressing her views on rising costs of living in America by criticizing “Trump’s sales tax” in increasing debt in middle and lower class households. Once it was Trump’s turn to speak, he immediately rebutted, stating that “sales tax” is a false claim and that other countries will pay back the U.S. “after all that we’ve done for the world.” Within the first two minutes of Trump’s commentary, he claimed that jobs are being stolen by immigrants from “mental institutions and insane asylums.” Trump went on to blame Biden and Harris for “letting these people into our country,” stating that they are “destroying everything.” After some back-and-forth regarding America’s current economic state, Harris assured the audience that “Trump has no plan for you, because he is more interested in defending himself than looking out for you.” Trump responded by assuring viewers that his former professors at the Wharton School of Business believe his plan “is a brilliant plan […]one that will create good, solid money.”
A standout moment from the first segment occurred when Trump accused Harris of stealing his philosophy, “in fact I was even gonna send her a MAGA hat,” he joked. After this final retort, the moderators had heard enough and asked the candidates to debate the topic of abortion.
Trump opened with a comment on Harris’ vice presidential pick, Tim Walz’s, views on abortion. Trump claimed Walz is “really out of it” and that, according to Walz, “abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine,” and that “execution” after birth is okay. The second Trump’s allocated speaking time ended, one of the moderators quickly corrected Trump’s false claim, stating that “there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.” Harris pointed out that banning abortion is “immoral” because survivors of rape and incest “don’t get to make a decision about what happens to their body next.”
Harris moved on to criticize Trump’s rallies, claiming that attendees start “leaving early out of boredom and exhaustion.” Unlike Trump, Harris pointed out she will put her supporters first. Trump responded to these comments by claiming Biden, during his presidency, has set the world on track for “World War III” by removing border restrictions. A prominent moment of the night had to be when Trump made claims regarding Springfield, Ohio. Springfield is a hotspot for immigrants, creating new job opportunities but also surging the town’s population and increasing its resource consumption as a result. Trump’s famous quote called out the new immigrants in Springfield for “eating the dogs[…]eating the cats, and eating the pets of the people that live there.” After Trump’s remarks, one of the moderators corrected his claims by clarifying that there is “no evidence of pets being harmed or abused by members of the immigrant community.”
In an attempt to switch the debate’s tone from personality to policy, one of the moderators asked Harris to explain why many of her positions on policies have changed, yet her values remain unchanged. Harris responded to the moderator’s question with comments regarding fracking. She then attempted to regain her audience by reintroducing the subject of her middle-class upbringing, a key talking point throughout her campaign.
As the debate drew to a close, Trump was asked if he had a plan to create a new healthcare system. Instead of answering this question, he critiqued Obamacare before he was asked again by the moderators, “yes or no, do you have a plan?” To which he replied “I have concepts of a plan, I’m not president right now.”
To vote in the presidential election, American citizens can either visit their local polling station on November 5, 2024 or request an absentee ballot. If voting internationally, even within North America, an Overseas Vote application must be submitted. International voters then have the option to receive a mail-in ballot or an electronic form.
