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Harris warns of ‘what’s at stake’ for US as vice-president appears to win debate with Trump – as it happened | US elections 2024

Harris appears to win debate

Statistician Nate Silver has written on his blog that there is “a strong consensus that Harris won the night.”

He notes that Bitcoin prices are down, “which also implies a loss for Trump.”

He adds:

Even the Fox News panel that I caught at the tail end of the evening seemed to concede that it was a win for Harris.

Harris won the CNN snap poll of debate-watchers 63-37. You can find polling on past debates here. On average, the winner of the debate has led in this poll by 18 points, so Harris’s 26-point win is toward the higher end of the range.

The majority of voters participating in a CNN focus group at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, also said they thought Harris has won.

“The group was made up of 13 voters who had not yet made a decision on who to vote for before the debate. When CNN’s Phil Mattingly asked the group who won the debate, eight of the voters said Harris won the showdown. Mattingly noted that Erie is “the swingiest county” in the battleground state,” CNN reports.

Some conservatives, including Chris Rufo and Rod Drehrer conceded – with caveats –a win for Harris, too, posting on Twitter/X:

I think she’s winning this. She comes across as normal , clear, and strong. Trump can’t land a blow — he is blustering and unfocused. Yeah, ABC’s moderators are biased, but you can’t blame them for Trump’s vanity and lack of precision.

— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) September 11, 2024

Harris wins slightly on points. This shouldn’t change the race significantly either way, but she was able to de-risk this event and now the Right has lost the narrative that Harris is refusing media or engagement. Will be interesting to see if she goes silent again.

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 11, 2024

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Key events

This live blog is now closing. Please follow our new US politics live blog here, which will cover all the reaction and fallout from the head to head debate.

Further reading:

Harris v Trump: highlights of the presidential debate – video

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Jonathan Freedland and Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone discuss the debate and what happened in our podcast, which you can listen to here:

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Here are the video highlights:

Harris v Trump: highlights of the presidential debate – video

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And in other news you should know if you’re just tuning in: Taylor Swift has endorsed Kamala Harris for president, in a post on Instagram published minutes after the US presidential debate, saying the Democratic candidate would be the “warrior” to fight for the rights and causes she believes in.

“As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can,” Swift wrote on Instagram to her 283 million followers late on Tuesday, adding: “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election”.

“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift. Photograph: Saul Loebandre Dias Nobre/AFP/Getty Images

In her statement, Swift encouraged her fans to register to vote.

Swift also addressed AI-generated images shared by Donald Trump in late August that falsely depicted Swift and her fans endorsing his campaign for president.

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Key takeaways from the debate

If you’re just tuning in: presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Kamala Harris went head to head on Tuesday night in their first – and potentially only – debate before voters head to the polls on 5 November. The candidates went into the event virtually tied in the polls with just weeks to convince a small but mighty minority of unsure voters on how to cast their ballot.

After weeks of arguments over the format and rules, the debate aired live on ABC from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a key swing state, with no audience in attendance and each candidate’s microphone muted while their opponent spoke.

This was the second presidential debate this year for Trump, who also went up against Joe Biden in June. The latter’s devastating performance triggered an upheaval within the Democratic party that would ultimately push Biden to step down and position Harris to head the ticket, an outcome Trump both takes credit for and complains about at his rallies.

With just 55 days until votes are tallied, Harris strived to highlight that she has a plan, and clearly responded to criticisms that she hasn’t shared enough details with voters about her platform and priorities. With focused rhetoric on planning for the future, building the middle class, and reframing her record on everything from immigration to climate, Harris was able to show voters how she hopes to lead.

Analysts, meanwhile, were watching Trump’s demeanor and clarity. The former president repeated frequent rhetoric from his rallies – including widely disputed claims about abortion, crime, and his belief that he won the 2020 election – but shared little about how he would address key problems Americans are facing.

Beyond their differences in policy positions, the candidates also displayed diverging visions of the country. Trump promised his base to restore what he sees as the glory of the past, and Harris heralded the hope of a brighter future.

My colleague Gabrielle Canon has rounded up the key takeaways:

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You may be wondering what happened on the debate stage during the commercial breaks.

According to CBS press pooler Sara Cook, during the second break, Harris made notes while Trump left the stage:

The second the stage hand said they were clear for a 4 minute break, Trump turned towards the exit, gave a big sigh through closed lips, and walked off stage without looking at Harris.

From the time the moderators announced they were going to break, Harris began writing on her notepad. She wrote continuously for the entire first two minutes of the break, occasionally bringing one hand to her chin or brushing hair behind her ear.

She then reviewed what she wrote for the next minute, making a few tweaks, before putting the pen down and looking out around the room with her hands folded in front of her. She took a sip of water from a glass placed under the lectern.

Trump walked back onstage 30 seconds before the end of break. He did not look at Harris, she did not look at him. Harris made small adjustments to her collar. Both candidates looked straight ahead until the program restarted.

Again, no words were spoken.”

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Trump refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to win war against Russia

Andrew Roth

Andrew Roth

Donald Trump sidestepped a direct question at Tuesday evening’s presidential debate on whether he wanted Ukraine to win in its war against Russia, underlining concerns that a second Trump administration could suspend military support for Kyiv.

Asked directly by ABC’s David Muir on whether or not he wants Ukraine to win the war, he did not answer the question and said simply: “I want the war to stop.” He focused on the war’s human toll by saying that people were being killed “by the millions,” a number that hasn’t been confirmed by any country or international organisation.

He went on to say that if elected he would negotiate a deal even before becoming president and suggested the United States was “playing with World War three.”

Kamala Harris quickly pounced on his remarks, saying that if Trump had been president during the invasion, then “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe”, and that in such a scenario the Russian president would move on to Poland.

“Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favour and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch.”

Trump’s remarks will renew concerns in Kyiv that he will cut off military and economic aid toward the country if he is reelected at a crucial moment in the war, when Kyiv is desperate for troops, financial support and for military hardware, much of it supplied by the United States and its Nato allies.

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Back to the map shared earlier of Google trends during the debate. The only state where abortion was not the top search term was Ohio where the top term was “immigration”.

Moderator David Muir had asked about immigration – Trump’s favourite topic – but when Harris wrapped her remark with a jab about Trump’s crowd sizes, the former president could not help but take the bait. First, Trump claimed without evidence that Harris paid people to attend her rallies. Clearly wound up, he began to ramble – about immigrants eating people’s pets.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” said Trump. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Trump’s claims about immigrants allegedly killing and eating the pets of US citizens originated, apparently, with a viral video of a resident of Springfield, Ohio, claiming before the town’s council that immigrants in the community had killed ducks from a local park for food. The unsubstantiated and inflammatory video was shared widely on rightwing accounts, evolving quickly into a viral meme featuring AI-generated images of Trump surrounded by cats and dogs, appearing to protect them.

Here is that graphic again:

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In his response on abortion, Trump made extremely erroneous claims, including that “the plan is, as you know, the vote is, they have abortion in the ninth month. They even have, and you can look at the governor of West Virginia, the previous governor of West Virginia, not the current governor, who’s doing an excellent job, but the governor before. He said the baby will be born and we will decide what to do with the baby. In other words, we’ll execute the baby.”

Trump was resurfacing a claim he made in October 2020, based on comments made in 2019.

Here is Reuters’ fact check from the time:

A meme shared by over 70,766 on Facebook misrepresents comments made by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam in 2019 when he was asked about a bill that, among other things, aimed to ease restrictions for third trimester abortions in the state. The meme falsely suggests that Northam is in favor of legalizing infanticide by leaving out some key contextual references in his remarks.

Northam was referring to “third-trimester abortions” that are done in cases “where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s non viable” he said. “If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam stated.

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The Guardian’s Nick Miller has taken a look at how google searches by US state changed during the debate – almost universally, the top search turned to abortion as the candidates spoke:

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Harris appears to win debate

Statistician Nate Silver has written on his blog that there is “a strong consensus that Harris won the night.”

He notes that Bitcoin prices are down, “which also implies a loss for Trump.”

He adds:

Even the Fox News panel that I caught at the tail end of the evening seemed to concede that it was a win for Harris.

Harris won the CNN snap poll of debate-watchers 63-37. You can find polling on past debates here. On average, the winner of the debate has led in this poll by 18 points, so Harris’s 26-point win is toward the higher end of the range.

The majority of voters participating in a CNN focus group at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, also said they thought Harris has won.

“The group was made up of 13 voters who had not yet made a decision on who to vote for before the debate. When CNN’s Phil Mattingly asked the group who won the debate, eight of the voters said Harris won the showdown. Mattingly noted that Erie is “the swingiest county” in the battleground state,” CNN reports.

Some conservatives, including Chris Rufo and Rod Drehrer conceded – with caveats –a win for Harris, too, posting on Twitter/X:

I think she’s winning this. She comes across as normal , clear, and strong. Trump can’t land a blow — he is blustering and unfocused. Yeah, ABC’s moderators are biased, but you can’t blame them for Trump’s vanity and lack of precision.

— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) September 11, 2024

Harris wins slightly on points. This shouldn’t change the race significantly either way, but she was able to de-risk this event and now the Right has lost the narrative that Harris is refusing media or engagement. Will be interesting to see if she goes silent again.

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 11, 2024

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Harris appeared to address ‘hero voters’

Harris also appeared to address what British political strategists termed “hero voters”, or voters who once voted Democrat but have since switched to the Republicans, or who might be lured from a party that they feel has veered too far to the right.

Keir Starmer’s former pollster, Deborah Mattinson, is to meet Kamala Harris’s campaign team in Washington this week to share details of how Labour pulled off its stunning election win by targeting key groups of “squeezed working-class voters who wanted change”.

Writing in the Observer, Mattinson said many of the concerns of crucial undecided voters will be similar on both of sides of the Atlantic.

“These voters – often past Labour voters – had rejected the party because they believed that it had rejected them. Often Tory voters in 2019, they made up nearly 20% of the electorate. Labour’s focus on economic concerns, from affordable housing to job security, won them back.

During the debate, in response to Trump stating, falsely, that Harris wanted to take guns away, Harris said that both she and Walz were gun owners.

Harris said in 2019 that she owned a gun for personal safety reasons. At the time, CNN reported that an aide has said she kept the handgun safely locked up.

Toward the end of the debate, Harris said, “I don’t ask if you’re a democrat, I ask if you’re ok.”

Earlier, she said:

So for everyone watching who remembers what January 6th was, I say we don’t have to go back. Let’s not go back. We’re not going back. It’s time to turn the page. And if that was a bridge too far for you, well, there is a place in our campaign for you. To stand for country. To stand for our democracy. To stand for rule of law. And to end the chaos. And to end the approach that is about attacking the foundations of our democracy ‘cause you don’t like the outcome.

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Fox news proposes second debate in October

Meanwhile Fox News said it proposed to hold a second presidential debate in October, adding it sent letters to the campaigns for both Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican rival Donald Trump before Tuesday night’s debate.

A spokesperson for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign said on Tuesday night that Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump should do a second debate in October.

In the spin room shortly after the debate, Trump wouldn’t commit to the rematch the Harris campaign has already offered, saying, “I have to think about it” and that he might do it “if it was on a fair network.”

“The reason you do a second debate is if you lose, and they lost,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “But I’ll think about it.”

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Appearing nervous at first, Harris gained momentum when she was asked about abortion.

Trump, who appeared calm at first, grew more irate as he again and again turned questions back onto the topic of immigration.

Here is Harris on abortion, a topic on which she has been notably strong. Much of her response was delivered while looking into the camera, as she did often during the debate, so that it appeared that she was speaking directly to voters:

Let’s understand how we got here. Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe V. Wade. And they did exactly as he intended. And now in over 20 states there are Trump abortion bans which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health care. In one state it provides prison for life. Trump abortion bans that make no exception even for rape and incest. Which understand what that means. A survivor of a crime, a violation to their body, does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next. That is immoral. And one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.

…

I have talked with women around our country. You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn’t want that. Her husband didn’t want that. A 12 or 13-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term? They don’t want that. And 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. But understand, if Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban. Understand in his project 2025 there would be a national abortion ban. Understand in his project 2025 there would be a national abortion — a monitor that would be monitoring your pregnancies, your miscarriages. I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body, should not be made by the government.

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