- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
The Democrat nominee clashed with the “extreme” Republican on hot-button issues from abortion to democracy and accused him of being a friend to dictators
By: Shajil Kumar
KAMALA HARRIS went on the offensive against Donald Trump in a fiery televised debate Tuesday, getting under her rival’s skin as they battled for a breakthrough in an agonisingly close election.
In a performance that earned her the endorsement of pop superstar Taylor Swift, the Democrat clashed with the “extreme” Republican on hot-button issues from abortion to democracy and accused him of being a friend to dictators.
Trump repeatedly raised his voice as he hit back at the vice president on immigration and the economy, branding her a “Marxist” and blaming her for what he said were the failings of President Joe Biden’s administration.
The former president claimed after that the ABC News-hosted clash in Philadelphia was his “best debate”, while Harris’s campaign also claimed victory and challenged him to a second debate in October.
With less than two months until the election, Harris, 59, was under pressure to deliver in front of an audience expected to run into the tens of millions after her sudden replacement as the Democratic candidate in place of Biden.
She started on the front foot by surprising Trump by approaching him to shake his hand before they took to their lecterns.
Then the niceties ended.
Trump, who only a few weeks ago had believed himself to be cruising to victory, reacted to pressure from Harris by resorting to the kinds of finger-jabbing insults and meandering invective that he uses at his rallies.
Harris responded by looking on in amusement and occasionally exclaiming “c’mon”, before declaring that she represents a fresh start after the “mess” of the Trump presidency — and saying: “We’re not going back.”
‘Eat you for lunch’
One of their most intense exchanges was on abortion.
Trump insisted that while having pushed for the end of the federal right to abortion, he wanted individual states to make their own policy.
Harris said he was telling a “bunch of lies” and called his policies “insulting to the women of America.”
Within minutes, Trump hammered at the Democrat’s weak spot on immigration by falsely claiming that she and Biden had allowed “millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums.”
Harris pointed out that Trump is a convicted felon, called him “extreme” and said it is “a tragedy” that throughout his career he had used “race to divide the American people.”
The rivals also clashed on foreign policy, with Harris telling Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “eat you for lunch” when it came to the war in Ukraine and that foreign dictators were “laughing” at him.
Trump shot back by accusing Harris of being weak on the war in Gaza, saying she “hated Israel” and that Israel would be “gone” within two weeks if she was president.
Another jarring clash came as Trump doubled down on his unprecedented refusal to accept losing to Biden in the 2020 election, before trying to overturn the result.
Harris responded by mocking his catchphrase as a reality TV star, saying that Trump had been “fired by 81 million people.”
False assertions
Donald Trump made numerous false assertions or extreme statements during Tuesday’s debate with Kamala Harris, several times prompting a correction from the moderators.
Perhaps most striking was Trump amplifying a false claim that has gone viral that numerous Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing residents’ pets or taking wildlife from parks for food.
“They’re eating the dogs! The people that came in. They’re eating the cats! They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said during the debate.
Harris laughed and shook her head. The moderator said there had been no credible reports of pets being harmed. Trump countered that he had seen TV interviews of people who said their dogs had been taken and eaten.
The Biden White House earlier on Tuesday condemned the viral misinformation, which Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, also shared. The White House said such remarks sought to divide Americans through lies and was based on racism.
Trump repeated his falsehood that millions of migrants were pouring into the United States from foreign prisons and mental institutions. “They are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings. They’re going in violently,” Trump said.
Migrants have not staged any violent takeovers of American towns.
Infanticide, Israel
Trump also reiterated a falsehood – which he often shares at his rallies – that Democrats are so extreme on abortion rights that they support killing newborns.
“Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth,” Trump said of Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Harris has said she backs reinstating the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that recognized women’s constitutional right to abortion at up to around 24 to 28 weeks. Harris and Walz do not support executing babies.
Later, during a discussion on the Middle East, Trump said Harris “hates” Israel.
“If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now,” Trump said, without sharing any evidence for such a claim. “The whole place is going to get blown up … Israel will be gone.”
Harris said it was “absolutely not true” that she hated Israel and said she had supported the country throughout her career. (Agencies)
