The first debate between Trump and Harris took place on Tuesday, marking an important event for both US presidential candidates and all Americans who are hesitant to make a choice on the upcoming ballot in November. Find out how the debate went and who viewers chose as the winner

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On 10 September, the long-awaited debate between the main US presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The politicians came to the meeting with almost identical ratings, so the debate could decide a lot, up to the outcome of the election.

Trump and Harris' ratings

The US election is still two months away, but the US media is already trying to figure out which candidate is the favourite. 

According to the latest opinion poll published by The New York Times, more than eight weeks before the election, Trump and Harris' ratings are almost identical - 47% vs. 48%, respectively.

The publication notes that these figures have remained virtually unchanged since incumbent US President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.

When it comes to the key states where the results determine the fate of the presidential election, the gap between the two candidates is within the statistical margin of error.

The Democrat is leading in Wisconsin (50% vs. 47% for Trump), Michigan (49% vs. 47%) and Pennsylvania (49% vs. 48%), while in Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona, both candidates have 48%.

However, after a sharp rise in her approval rating following the announcement of her vice presidential candidacy, Harris has faced the challenge of maintaining her support.

The survey also showed that more than a quarter of Americans believe they need to learn more about Kamala Harris. It is this indicator that should be the key for Harris in the election race.

The rules of the debate

The debate between Harris and Trump was held under the same rules as the debate between Trump and Biden in June this year.

Trump and Harris stood behind the podiums for the entire 90-minute debate. 

Members of the campaign teams did not interact with the candidates throughout the event, including during commercial breaks. There were no questions from the audience. There were also no opening remarks.

Only moderators asked the candidates questions. The time for answering each question was limited to two minutes. Another two minutes were allocated for refutation and for clarification or explanation.

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Expectations from the debates

The debates will be an important part of the campaign for both candidates. Trump's task is to regain his lost ground, while Harris' is to retain the electorate.

Prior to the debate, some Republicans feared that Trump might lose this opportunity, especially if he ‘gets personal’, as he did during the debate with Biden.

Trump's advisers had been urging him for weeks to focus on criticising Harris's political performance, but the former president continued to publicly attack his rival.

As for Harris, she, according to the US media, carefully prepared for the meeting with Trump. Harris, like Trump, devoted a lot of time to rehearsals. They almost entirely rehearsed a 90-minute real debate in which the role of Trump was played by Philip Reines, a long-time aide to Hillary Clinton.

On the eve of the debate, Harris had a clear advantage in at least one of the most important areas - the economy, access to abortion, ‘leadership in democracy’ and the issue of gun violence.

Harris's main statements

Harris tried to appeal to ordinary Americans by offering them an ‘opportunity economy’ and benefits for small businesses.

The vice president attacked Trump, calling him a supporter of dictators and insisting that he has no economic plan. She also accused her rival of having direct negotiations with the Taliban over the situation in Afghanistan. When asked about the war between Israel and Hamas, she said that Hamas are terrorists, she supports Israel's right to defend itself, ‘but it's how you do it that matters.’ 

Harris's quotes

- ‘Trump will just give up Ukraine. If he were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now planning aggression against other European countries.’

- Ukraine has the right to defend itself and ‘Thanks to our support, air defence, ammunition, artillery, Javelins, Abrams tanks that we have provided, Ukraine has the ability to defend itself.’

- ‘You think you're friends with a dictator, but he would eat you for lunch,’ she said of her agreements with Putin.

Trump's main statements

In response to almost any question, Trump could touch on completely different topics that came to his mind at the time, so the same topic about the war between Israel and Hamas could turn into the war between Russia and Ukraine in a second, and then abruptly turn towards the topic of migration.

The debate hosts caught him three times on fact-checking. In particular, Trump said that some states allow abortions even after birth and that Democrats support this. This was promptly refuted by the hosts and made Harris smile. 

He also voiced the long-standing myth that migrants from Haiti allegedly steal pets from residents of Springfield, Ohio, and eat them. The hosts also reminded the candidate of this, who nevertheless continued to insist on his version. 

The host asked Trump twice whether it was in the US interest for Ukraine to win the war with Russia. Trump replied twice that it was in the US interest for the war to end. 

And Trump dragged out the usual theme that he would need to make one phone call to end this war, and he would do it before he was sworn in as president.

Trump's quotes

- ‘The war would never have happened if I had been president... Putin would never have entered Ukraine.’

- ‘I will end this war before I am inaugurated, if I am elected. I will hold talks between Putin and Zelenskyy’

- ‘It is in the interest of the United States that the war ends and negotiations begin,’ though he evaded a direct answer as to whether he wanted Ukraine to win.

- He called Harris a ‘bad negotiator’ and made accusations that after her conversation with Zelensky in February 2022, Putin decided to invade Ukraine, to which Western media have already reacted by saying that this is a lie and Harris did not negotiate.

Summary

At the debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris won the representative of the Democratic Party. Sixty-three per cent of respondents felt that way, CNN polling shows.

Registered voters who watched the debate between Harris and Trump on 10 September say that the vice-president showed the best result.

Meanwhile, before the debate, the same voters were evenly split as to which candidate would look better, with 50% in favour of Harris and 50% in favour of Trump.

We remind you! The US has revealed the name of a potential vice-presidential candidate from the Democratic Party. His name is Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota. Read more about his career and his attitude towards Ukraine here.

Want to know more? Read the latest news and useful materials about Ukraine and the world in the News section.

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