Live updates: Reactions and analysis of the debate between Trump and Harris

Kamala Harris provoked Donald Trump for almost the entire 1 hour and 45 minutes of her first and possibly only debate on Tuesday night – and the former president did not miss the opportunity.

The vice president had prepared extensively for the debate, peppering nearly every answer with a comment designed to infuriate the former president. Trump was often out of control, loudly and repeatedly insisting that a whole host of falsehoods were true. The former president repeated lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election, parroted a conspiracy theory that immigrants eat pets, and lied that Democrats support abortions after babies are born – which is murder and illegal everywhere.

Here are some insights from the debate:

A turning point when Harris attacks Trump for the size of the crowds at his rallies: Harris came on stage with a clear plan: to upset Trump. It was, by any measure, a dramatic success. When the vice president mentioned Trump's criminal conviction and outstanding legal issues, he took the bait. When she criticized him for killing a bipartisan immigration bill, he bit even harder. And when Harris suggested Trump's rallies were boring, he almost choked on the bait.

Instead of addressing the issues raised by the moderators – including some that Trump counts among his political strengths – the former president went into detail about the entertainment value of his rallies, claimed that the Biden administration was legally targeting him and, in a long, bizarre pause, insisted – contrary to all available evidence – that migrants were eating Americans' pets.

Trump indulges in conspiracy theories: Despite signals from even his running mate, Trump did not hold back during the debate from repeating the conspiracy theory du jour. The former president brought up the unfounded conspiracy theory that migrants from Haiti living in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people's cats and dogs. At one point, he said, “In Springfield, they eat the dogs. They eat the cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there.”

When ABC anchor David Muir pointed out that city officials had rejected any evidence that migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Trump persisted, saying that “people on TV” said that. When asked, Trump simply said, “We'll find out.” When the debate turned to crime, Trump claimed that crime in the United States has risen in contrast to the rest of the world. Again, Muir pointed out that, according to FBI data, crime has declined in recent years.

Fierce dispute over abortion, a central issue for both candidates: The vice president, who has long been one of the administration's strongest advocates on reproductive rights issues, was able to respond to the former president's defense of his abortion policies in a way that Joe Biden could not.

The former president, who appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to strike down federal abortion protections, has tried to soften his stance on the issue, criticizing the ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and reiterating his support for exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. But he has also defended the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

To read More takeaways from the first debate between Harris and Trump.