US Election: Trump and Harris face each other for the second debate
di Valentina Cordero
A hand-shake signed the starting of a soon to be hostile debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, two months before the US Election, scheduled on November 5th. This is the first time the two opponents have ever met in person.
With no audience in the room, the mics were muted when the candidates were not speaking, although the crosstalk between the rivals was quite audible, with Trump that led on speaking time in the first half. The debate, held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, was hosted by ABC News and moderated by anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis. The debate followed the previous face to face between Trump and President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race soon after due to pressure because of his age and an awful performance.
From economy and cost of living to abortion, through immigration, the Project 2025, the war in Gaza the two candidates kept attacking each other non stop.
Harris started by dodging the very first question: when asked if people are better off today then 4 years ago she answered by talking about the future and a 50,000 tax deduction to start a business.
“I believe in the ambitions, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people,” Harris said explaining she wants to build an opportunity economy and attacking the rival Trump’s proposals, like the tax cuts, explaining that it will be bad for Americans. Harris also mentioned the Project 2025, a 920 page document from a conservative group’s plans that will radically reshape the federal government.
But Trump responded distancing himself from the initiative, as he already did previously in his social media posts. “I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” he explained. “That is out there. I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposely. I am not going to read it.”
The Vice President, who during the entire debate used a lot of her facial expressions to communicate her thoughts, criticized Trump’s rally saying people leave before the end, while Trump counterattack asserting that there is no reason for anybody to go to her rallies. Trump attacked Harris on the idea of forgiving student loans that never happened, calling Joe Biden “her boss that is always at the beach.”
Harris brought to the table Goldman Sachs, that in a note last week explained that Trump’s economic policies would cause the US’s economy to shrink in 2025, while her policies could help the economy grow. But she forgot that her ban on price gouging was largely criticized by most economists. The Republican candidate answered by underlining that his economic plans are well recognized by many.
On immigration, Trump claimed that 21 million people are crossing the border monthly into the US under President Biden and suggested to end the debate and to have Harris go right away to Washington DC and have President Biden sign an order to close the border. “We need walls, we need to have borders and we need to have good elections,” he said. Trump added that the Democratic party is allowing immigrants to come and have them vote in order to win. “They can’t even speak English. They don’t even know what country they are in, practically,” he added.
Former prosecutor Harris really tried hard to make his opponent (who was very calm at the beginning) angry stating that basically nobody likes him. “So many military leaders, some of whom have worked with you said that you are a disgrace,” she said, claiming world leaders are laughing at him. “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people and is clearly having a hard time processing that.” And he fought back saying that Hungary’s strongman praised him for being tough.
On the topic of the war in Gaza, where more than 40,000 were killed, Harris didn’t do well when asked “how would you do it?” She simply stated that “this war must end and we will continue to work around the clock.” She also added that there must be a two state solution with security in equal measure for Israel and Palestinians.
“Russia attacked Ukraine because they saw how incompetent they (Biden and Harris) are,” Trump stated by adding that he could bring the war to an end in a single day should he return to the White House.
“Where is our President? They threw him out like a dog,” Trump said, adding that he was the worst President, while Harris was the worst Vice President.
At the end of the debate, Harris stated that “we are not going back, I believe in what we can do together and ensure that we have the respect that we deserve. I intend to be a president for all Americans and build back our country.”
According to Trump, Harris has been in the White House for 3.5 years but apparently she hasn’t done the things she wanted to do. “We are a failing Nation, all over the World they laugh, we don’t have any idea of what is going on. We will end up in a III World War,” he ended.
According to the most recent poll, Harris lead Trump by 1 point nationally (49% to 48%), but the Republican candidate has overtaken its rival among two categories of voters: independent with 49% to 46%, a 14 points shifts from August; Latinos with 51% against 47%, a 19 points swing.
The poll has been conducted between September 3rd and 5th by NPR, PBS News, and Marist Poll.
Another poll conducted by the New York Times and the Siena College on Sunday September 9th, shows that 90% of voters said that they knew everything they need to know about Trump, while only 71% admitted they know everything about Harris. This is definitely a warning sign and a wake up call for the Democratic candidate that will need to work harder in whatever time is left before the Election day.
