Ex-President Donald Trump claimed that he ‘probably took a bullet to the head’ because of Vice President Kamala Harris and fellow Democrats’ accusations about him.
Harris and Trump faced off for the first time in a fiery debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night, with less than two months until the November election.
Democratic nominee Harris said Trump would ‘weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies’.
Republican nominee Trump fired back: ‘I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me.
‘They talk about democracy – I’m a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy, with their Russia, Russia, Russia investigation that went nowhere.’
The night started on a tense note with Harris briefly introducing herself to Trump and the two shaking hands. Then Harris walked to the lectern at the right side of the TV screen and Trump to the left.
The candidates quickly took shots at each other.
Harris linked Trump to the ‘dangerous’ conservative Project 2025, prompting Trump to say again, ‘I have nothing to do with Project 2025’.
Harris said that the Biden administration had to ‘clean up Donald Trump’s mess’ and falsely claimed that Trump left the country with ‘the worst unemployment since the Great Depression’.
Trump claimed that Harris ‘has no policy’ and that ‘she’s a Marxist, everyone knows she’s a Marxist’.
Harris claimed that foreign leaders called Trump ‘a disgrace’ and that dictators want him to win the election so they can manipulate him with ‘flattery and favors’.
It is the only debate that the two candidates have agreed to so far and a critical one given how close the race stands.
The candidates are neck-and-neck in the polls, as Harris enjoyed a honeymoon period after President Joe Biden ended his campaign, but has seen her rise in polls stall.
Harris and Trump stood six feet apart.
The debate will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.
There was no live audience watching the debate and ABC News decided the microphone would be muted when an opponent was speaking.
Hours before the debate kicked off, several bookmakers said Harris was the favorite to win the debate.
Star Sports and Action Network revealed odds of 1/3, or 75%, that Harris would win the debate over Trump.
At 6.45pm, Harris posted a graphic comparing herself to Trump, with the caption, ‘In this election, Americans have a choice.’ It stated that she would grow the middle class while Trump ‘plans to take unchecked power’.
Shortly before that, Trump shared two AI cat memes, first one of a cat wearing a Make America Great Again hat and holding a gun. The second was of himself on a plane surrounded by cats and ducks. They were apparent references to right-wing false rumors of Haitian immigrants in Ohio killing and eating pets.
The debate is scheduled to run 90 minutes. It will be closely watched by voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which is a must-win for both candidates.
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