The 2024 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump occurred last week, where Harris and Trump spoke on important topics such as reproductive rights, the economy and foreign policy.
The Sept. 10 debate hosted by ABC News took place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, marking Harris and Trump’s first time meeting in person.
The debate began with a discussion of the economy, a topic that debate moderator David Muir said was most important to American voters.
Harris said she would prioritize the middle class, young families, small businesses, first-time homeowners and the elderly.
“I believe in the ambitions, the aspirations, and the dreams of the American people, and that is why I actually have a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy,” she said.
Harris’ “opportunity economy” would extend a tax cut of $6,000 for young families during the first year of their child’s life, provide $25,000 down payment assistance for first-time homeowners, and give a $50,000 tax deduction to start-up small businesses, according to her campaign.
Jevay Grooms, an assistant professor in the economics department and co-director of the Center for an Equitable Economy and Sustainable Society at Howard University, described investing in the middle class as “proactive for the whole economy.”
“When you invest in the middle class you invest in all they touch as well, right? When we think about households that pay for daycare there are those individuals that work in the daycare industry, who might not be classified as middle class, but benefit from a strong middle class,” Grooms said.
In the debate, Trump laid out a plan to substantially cut taxes, and implement tariffs on imports.
“Everybody knows I’m an open book. Everyone knows what I’m going to do: cut taxes substantially and create a great economy like I did before,” he said.
Trump also accused the Biden-Harris administration of allowing people to “pour into” America and take jobs from Black and Hispanic people.
“We have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums, and they’re coming in and they’re taking jobs that are occupied right now by African Americans and Hispanics,” Trump said.
He also said that more than 21 million immigrants were pouring into America monthly.
According to Politifact, immigration officials encountered immigrants illegally crossing the border around 10 million times during the Biden administration, which contradicts Trump’s claim. Border officials did not stop about 11 million people from entering the country illegally, Politifact says.
“Many of these people coming in are criminals and that’s bad for our economy,” Trump said.
Grooms weighed in and expressed that there was a larger problem with Trump’s statement that immigrants were taking “Black” and “Hispanic” jobs.
“To say that they’re Black and brown jobs is to negate structural racism and disparities that Black and brown people have faced for generations,” Grooms said.
She said that we should reflect on why we attach certain jobs to Black and brown people.
“Something that would benefit is, instead of saying ‘Black’ and ‘brown’ jobs, defining what ‘Black’ and ‘brown’ jobs are and why is it that there are jobs that people take depending on the color of their skin,” Grooms said.
The candidates also discussed foreign policy.
In the last 11 months, people have increasingly expressed disapproval about the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel.
A June poll done by CBS revealed that 61 percent of Americans want the United States to stop sending weapons to Israel, and 62 percent want the United States to send humanitarian aid to Palestineans in Gaza.
Since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, over 40,000 people in Gaza have been killed, and an estimated 90 percent of people have been displaced since the war began, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Harris pledged to implement a ceasefire in Gaza while continuing to support Israel by providing weapons.
During the debate, Harris said, “Israel has the right to defend itself, but how it does matters.”
She also expressed support for a two-state solution.
Trump claimed that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks would not have happened if he had been president.
Mazaher Koruzhde, a lecturer of international relations at Howard’s department of political science said that when it comes to Israel and Palestine there “needs to be a compromise.”
While he agreed with Harris that Israel has a right to defend itself, he also believes that the Democrats need to do more in pushing against Israel in the wake of Israel’s attacks in the Gaza Strip.
“I think they need to push more against Israel and focus primarily on the ‘how they do it is important’, given the obvious fact that Israel has an absolute right to defend itself,” Koruzhde said.
While he has reservations against Harris’ plan for Israel and Palestine, he believes it is the best we have right now.
Koruzhde also pointed out that Trump has no plan, and described Trump’s assertion—that the war would have never happened if he was in office—as preposterous.
In terms of reproductive rights, Trump denied Harris’ allegations that he would sign a federal abortion ban law as president.
“I’m not signing a ban, and there’s no reason to sign a ban because we’ve gotten what everybody wanted,” he said.
When debate moderator Linsey Davis asked Trump if he would hypothetically veto a federal abortion ban he reiterated that he would leave the issue up to the states.
Trump also said that women were having abortions during the ninth month of pregnancy and after birth, and accused Harris’ running mate Tim Walz of supporting this.
“Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth…is okay,” Trump said.
Davis fact-checked Trump after these remarks, asserting that “There is no state where it’s legal to kill a baby after it is born.”
According to the CDC, less than a fraction of abortions are “late-term abortions,” which are abortions that take place after or at 21 weeks of pregnancy. Only five percent take place between 14 and 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Trump did, however, share that he believes in abortion for exceptions such as rape, incest, and life of the mother.
Harris criticized Trump for choosing three Supreme Court justices who pledged to overturn Roe v. Wade: Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Harris said if Congress passes a bill to put the protections of Roe v. Wade back into place, she would proudly sign it into law.
Attorney Angela Minor, assistant chair and associate professor at Howard’s School of Communications, and a coach for Howard’s Mock Trial team, expressed that the conversation about abortion during the debate showcased Harris’ strengths.
“One of her greatest strengths was captured when she used certain highly criticized topics that have been known to weaken former President Donald Trump’s ability to relate to groups of protected persons. For example, she raised the critical issue of the Supreme Court’s reversal of the long-standing decision of Roe v. Wade,” Minor said.
During closing statements, Harris expressed her plan to focus on the future. She contrasted this with what she perceived as Trump’s vision for America as focusing on the past.
Lauren North, a senior at Howard and co-president of the student-run organization Howard University Democrats believes that Harris’ campaign slogan “We’re not going back” is indicative of her values and proposed policies.
“She mentioned a lot of our fears of another Trump presidency, saying how when he came into the presidential seat we did go back in a lot of our economic policy and a lot of our social policy as well,” North said
Danny Steele, also a senior at Howard and co-president of Howard University Democrats, said that relatability is an important trait for Harris to tap into to intrigue swing state voters.
“Speaking to that, I would say that she needs to focus on the problems that those states are facing,” Steele said about issues in swing states such as education, abortion, and immigration.
In Trump’s closing statement, he questioned Harris as to why she hasn’t done what she said she wanted to do as vice president.
“She just started by saying she’s going to do this, she’s going to do that, she’s going to do all these wonderful things. Why hasn’t she done it? She’s been there for three and a half years,” Trump said.
A Sept. 15 poll by Ipsos found that 63 percent of Americans believed Harris won the debate, while 33 percent believed Trump won.
The poll also found that more Americans view Trump as better for the economy and inflation, while more Americans view Harris as better on issues such as healthcare, abortion, and protecting democracy.
Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau
