Harris and Trump trade barbs over Afghanistan and Gaza at debate

Vice President and former leader face off for first time in Philadelphia

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US Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump during a hostile debate on Tuesday, putting the agitated former president on the defensive over his stance on foreign policy, abortion rights and a host of other issues including his criminal convictions.

The Democratic former prosecutor repeatedly baited Mr Trump, teasing him about the size of his rally crowds and calling him a “disgrace”, visibly infuriating the Republican candidate as he fell back on familiar talking points including anti-immigrant rhetoric and falsehoods.

The two candidates have laid out differing visions for America, with Mr Trump pitching himself as a dealmaker who can save America from terminal decline, while Ms Harris has sought to counter the dark view by projecting “joy” and giving a more optimistic view of the country.

Afghanistan

On Afghanistan, Mr Trump attacked Ms Harris and the administration of President Joe Biden over the chaotic withdrawal, saying they “blew it” and that it was one of the most “incompetently handled situations anybody has ever seen”.

“They never fired one person. They didn't fire anybody having to do with Afghanistan and the Taliban and the 13 people who were just killed, viciously and violently killed,” he said, referring to a bombing at Kabul airport in August 2021 that killed more than a dozen US soldiers.

Ms Harris hit back, saying Mr Trump, when he was president, “negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine”.

“He calls himself a dealmaker,” she said, pointing to a 2020 agreement negotiated in Doha that outlined a future American withdrawal from the country.

“He bypassed the Afghan government. He negotiated directly with a terrorist organisation called the Taliban … he does not, again, appreciate the role and responsibility of the president of the United States to be commander-in-chief.”

Israel-Gaza war

Ms Harris reaffirmed her support for the Biden administration's continued backing of Israel amid the war in Gaza, while also pushing for self-determination for Palestinians.

“There must be security for the Israeli people and Israel, and an equal measure for the Palestinians,” she said.

“But the one thing I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular, as it relates to Iran, and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel.”

Ms Harris has stuck closely to Mr Biden's support for Israel, infuriating Arab and Muslim-American voters who could play a crucial role in swing states where outcomes are decided by only a few thousand votes.

“We must have a two-state solution, where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve,” she added.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, accused Ms Harris of hating Israel as well as Arabs, and said that if he were president, the Israel-Gaza war would never have started.

“She hates Israel … At the same time in her own way, she hates the Arab population, because the whole place is going to get blown up, Arabs, Jewish people, Israel,” he said.

Mr Trump said that if Ms Harris becomes president, “I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now”.

Immigration

Harris and Trump debate with no studio audience present. AFP

Mr Trump consistently brought up immigration throughout the debate, attacking Ms Harris over her record on the border.

Ms Harris, as Vice President, has been heavily involved in efforts to resolve issues at the southern border, but critics say she has not done nearly enough.

Mr Trump said “migrant crime” is rising in the US and that Ms Harris has allowed “many, many millions” of criminals and "terrorists" into the country.

The moderators pushed back, quoting the FBI as saying violent crime in the country is going down.

“They were defrauding statements. They didn't include the worst cities,” he said in response. “They didn't include the cities with the worst crime. It was a fraud.”

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump meet in first debate

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Reproductive rights

On abortion, Mr Trump dodged questions as to whether he would veto or allow a total abortion ban in the US if elected, and accused Democrats of allowing abortion up to the ninth month.

The moderators pushed back against this, saying no state allows for abortion that late in pregnancy.

“For 50 years, they've been trying to get Roe v Wade to the states … and now states are voting on it,” he said of the Supreme Court decision that repealed the right to abortion. He added that legal scholars and others “wanted this issue brought back to the states”.

Ms Harris attacked Mr Trump for his support of rolling back abortion rights in the US, saying women are now forced to carry pregnancies to term even after they have been raped.

“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,” she said. “That is immoral.”

Ms Harris said she has spoken to women across the country and federal abortion rights are widely supported.

“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,” she said.

Economy

Ms Harris highlighted her economic plan early in the debate, detailing tax cuts that would benefit the middle class.

“I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy,” she said, highlighting plans for tax cuts for families and small businesses.

She also leaned hard on her own middle-class background, speaking of how her single mother worked hard to support them.

Mr Trump put forward his plan to place tariffs on other countries to help turn the US economy around.

“Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we've done for the world,” he said.

He said Americans would not see higher prices due to his planned tariffs, because the US would take in hundreds of billions of dollars through his plan.

“Inflation like very few people have ever seen before, probably the worst in our nation's history” has occurred during the Biden administration, he said.

Ms Harris hit back by saying that he had left the US in a worse situation than he found it and that his economic plans will add $5 trillion to America's deficit.

Not-so-muted mics

Though microphones are supposed to be muted during the debate when the candidate has not been called on to speak, both were heard making off-mic comments.

When Mr Trump said that he has been a leader in championing in vitro fertilisation treatments, Ms Harris whispered audibly: “You have not. Come on.”

Candidates also fact-checked each other. When Mr Trump claimed immigrants were eating cats in Springfield, Ohio, Ms Harris laughed and said: “What? This is unbelievable.”

Mr Trump gasped when Ms Harris raised his criminal indictments and felony convictions.

“She is the one that weaponised it,” Mr Trump said off-mic and off-camera, following up on the exchange over the federal and state cases brought against him.

While Mr Trump is a politician who has been repeating similar talking points for almost a decade, Ms Harris has kept a low profile as Vice President, and her personality – and policies – remain something of a mystery to millions of voters.

Patrick deHahn in New York and Sara Ruthven in Washington contributed to this report