PHILADELPHIA: Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris clashed over the economy in the opening moments of their first presidential debate on Tuesday, a key moment in the closely fought election.

Harris, 59, attacked Trump’s intention to impose high tariffs on foreign goods – a proposal she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class – while touting her plan to offer tax benefits to families.

Here are takeaways from the debate:

Handshake

Heading into the debate, there was a question as to how Harris and Trump, who have never met, would greet each other.

Harris settled the issue, definitively. She walked over to Trump at his podium, extended her hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris.”

It was a disarming way for Harris to approach a man who has spent weeks insulting her race and gender.

After that, the debate quickly settled into an expected groove. Harris swiftly painted herself as a forward-looking candidate. She predicted Trump at the debate would pull from the “same tired playbook.”

“A bunch of lies, grievances and name calling,” Harris said.

Economy 

“I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people, and that is why I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy,” said Harris.

“Look, we’ve had a terrible economy, because inflation, which is really known as a country buster,” said Trump.

“People can’t go out and buy cereal or bacon or eggs or anything else. The people of our country are absolutely dying with what they’ve done. They’ve destroyed the economy,” said Trump.

Israel-Gaza conflict

“It must end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a ceasefire deal, and we need the hostages out,” said Harris.

“She hates Israel. If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now,” said Trump to which Harris responded: “That’s absolutely not true. I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people.”

“World leaders are laughing at Donald Trump,” said Harris.

“(Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orban said the most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump. We had no problems when Trump was president,” said Trump.

“Wait a minute, I’m talking now, if you don’t mind, please, does that sound familiar?” said Trump, appearing to refer to Harris’ use of “I’m speaking” during the 2020 vice presidential debate against former Vice President Mike Pence.

Abortion

“I pledge to you, when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v Wade as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” said Harris.

“Now, I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. … Now states are voting on it. … Each individual state is voting. It’s the vote of the people. Now it’s not tied up in the federal government,” said Trump.

Immigration

“I’ll tell you something, he’s going to talk about immigration a lot tonight, even when it’s not the subject that is being raised,” said Harris.

“Our country is being lost, we’re a failing nation,” Trump said, referring to people crossing into the country illegally.

Assassination attempt

“I probably took a bullet to the head for the things they say about me,” said Trump.

“As I said, you’re gonna hear a bunch of lies, and that’s not actually a surprising fact,” said Harris.

“There she goes again. It’s a lie,” said Trump after Harris said he would sign a national abortion ban were he to win office.

Jan 6, 2021, Capitol attack

“I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech,” said Trump, when asked if he regretted anything that day.

“I was at the Capitol. I was the vice president-elect. I was also a senator and on that day, the president of the United States incited a violent mob to attack our nation’s capital, to desecrate our nation’s capital,” said Harris.

“They are not going to have higher prices,” Trump said, defending his tariffs proposal.

COVID-19

“But what Donald Trump did, let’s talk about this, with COVID, is he actually thanked President Xi for what he did during COVID,” said Harris.

Project 2025

“What you’re going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected again,” said Harris.

First meeting 

The clash followed weeks of personal attacks on Harris by Trump and his allies that have included racist and sexist insults.

Trump’s advisers and fellow Republicans have urged him to focus on the high levels of inflation and immigration during Biden’s presidency, though both have dropped dramatically this year.

Presidential debates do not necessarily change voters’ minds, but they can transform the dynamics of a race. Biden’s poor performance against Trump in June led him to abandon his campaign on July 21.

In a contest that could again come down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states, even a small shift in public opinion could alter the outcome. The two candidates are effectively tied in the seven battleground states likely to decide the election, according to polling averages compiled by the New York Times.

The 90-minute debate, hosted by ABC News, was taking place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. As agreed by the campaigns, there was no live audience and candidates’ microphones were muted when it was not their turn to speak.

Harris spent days preparing in Pittsburgh, holding mock sessions on a stage with lights to recreate the debate environment.

Trump instead relied on informal chats with advisers, campaign appearances and media interviews to prepare, with former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard – who had a memorably hostile exchange with Harris in a Democratic presidential debate in 2019 – offering advice.

On a call with reporters on Monday, Gabbard said Trump would treat Harris the same as any other opponent.

“President Trump respects women and doesn’t feel the need to be patronizing or to speak to women in any other way than he would speak to a man,” she said.

Harris is expected to attack Trump over abortion. The issue has been a priority for Harris and Democrats since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court – powered by three Trump appointees – eliminated a nationwide right to the procedure in a broadly unpopular decision.

Harris has also sought to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that proposes expanding executive power, eliminating environmental regulations and making it illegal to ship abortion pills across state lines, among other right-wing goals.

More to follow…