The 2024 presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a major event of the 2024 election cycle. It was contentious, with frequent attacks being traded between the two candidates. Policy and immigration were discussed at length, with several other issues also taking center stage.
The debate started with Kamala Harris discussing her middle-class background, and how it has influenced her “opportunity economy” policy. She pointed to her middle-class tax cut policy, focus on small businesses, and tax incentives for families. She attacked Trump for giving tax cuts to billionaires. In response, Trump talked about his tariff policies, which he claims help the economy. He also discussed inflation that resulted from economic rescue policies championed by the Biden administration during the COVID era.
After touching on his economic policy, Trump pivoted to immigration from Central and South America. The number of people coming from these countries drastically increased after COVID-19 restrictions were dropped, becoming a weak point for the Biden-Harris administration. Trump used fear to drive home his argument. He warned of towns being “overrun” by “violent” immigrants. He referred to them as “The highest level of criminality”, despite statistics showing that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes due to their unstable status in the U.S.
When asked to respond, Harris moved back to the economy, particularly pointing to the period under Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic. This period had the worst unemployment since the Great Depression, the worst epidemic in the history of the United States, and some of the worst unrest since the 1992 L.A. Race riots.
Harris points to economists backing her plan, as compared to Trump, who has little economic backing from credible organizations. Trump defends himself by talking about his experience at the Wharton Economics School and accuses Harris of taking Biden’s plan, even though her plan differs in several ways. He then pivots back to tariffs, accusing other countries of “ripping us off”.
After some back and forth, the candidates discuss abortion. The most notable thing during this part of the debate was that Donald Trump refused to veto a national abortion ban, despite a large majority of Americans against one. Harris hit Trump hard on this issue, especially when it comes to his role in overturning Roe V. Wade.
One memorable part of the debate came when Kamala Harris talked about Trump’s rallies, particularly his tendency to ramble during them. He was triggered by this, and started to go off-topic, attacking Kamala about her rallies before pivoting to a fake conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants are eating house pets. Harris points out how these exact rambling statements are the reasons Harris has over 200 Republicans on her side.
The debate ended with a clear Democratic win. Kamala Harris defended herself from attacks and made herself seem like a fresh alternative to Trump. Meanwhile, Trump struggled to land effective hits on Harris and spent his time on defense.
