Harris vs. Trump: US economy, abortion, immigration, Gaza war

Source: BBC, Bloomberg; Compiled by: Tao Zhu, Golden Finance

At 9 am Beijing time on September 11, the debate between Trump and Harris was held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The two mentioned issues such as the US economy, women's abortion, immigration, and the Gaza War in the debate. Golden Finance has summarized the content of the debate between the two sides as follows.

The 2024 election cycle has brought a lot of appeal to the debate stage. President Joe Biden's poor performance in the first presidential debate in June ultimately led to his withdrawal from the campaign, opening the door for Vice President Harris' candidacy.

The campaign teams on both sides argued over the rules of the debate for weeks, but in the end they agreed to rules similar to the June debate: microphones will remain muted unless it is their turn to speak, there will be no audience in the studio, and no props or pre-written notes will be allowed.

Candidate Profile

Kamala Harris - Vice President of the United States

Age:59

Party:Democrat

Campaign Promises:Harris' mantra is: "We're not going back," a reference to the policies of former President Trump. She supports abortion rights, has introduced an economic plan to ban price gouging at grocery stores, and says she will "end the housing shortage in America."

Big Moment in 2024: Her headlining speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, officially introducing herself to the nation as a presidential candidate, came just a month after Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

Donald Trump - Former President of the United States

Age:78

Party:Republican

Campaign Promises:Trump said he would "seal the border" to stop illegal crossings, promised across-the-board tax cuts, proposed a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, and vowed to "drill, baby, drill" to lower energy prices. Trump also vowed to retaliate against his political opponents.

Top moments in 2024:Trump dominated headlines throughout the year, from surviving an assassination attempt at a political rally to becoming the first former or current president to be convicted after a jury found him guilty of falsifying business records.

Debate begins with handshake

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump take the stage and the debate begins.

The two shake hands as they meet on stage.

The first question was about the economy

The first question was about the economy - "Do you think Americans are better off than they were four years ago?"

Harris took the question first and said she plans to build an "opportunity economy."

She pledged to address housing costs and help young families.

"One of my passions is small business,"she continued.

Harris slams Trump tax cuts

Harris then turned to try to draw a contrast with her opponent.

She said Trump plans to “do what he’s done before” and “cut taxes for billionaires and corporations.”

She said “Everyday items” that Americans rely on will face a “Trump sales tax.”

Trump promises tariffs

In response to Harris, Trump vowed to impose tariffs on other countries.

They’re “finally…giving back what we’ve done for the world,” he added.

He specifically mentioned China, saying the administration had earned “billions” of dollars from it through tariffs even after he left office.

He then immediately turned to immigration.

Harris hits back on the economy

Vice President Harris is responding to Trump’s attacks on the economy by placing the blame on his administration.

She said: "Donald Trump has left us with the worst unemployment problem since the Great Depression."

She added: "All we're doing is cleaning up the mess that Donald Trump left behind."

Harris also mentioned the "2025 Plan", which she called a "detailed and dangerous plan" that she said would be implemented if Trump took office.

Harris took aim at Trump's economic policies, saying that 16 Nobel Prize winners in economics have criticized Trump's policies and believe that if implemented, they will trigger a recession next year.

“Donald Trump has no plan for you. Because he’s more interested in protecting himself than taking care of you.”

Trump hit back, saying that economics professors thought his plan was “excellent” and “a good plan.”

“We’re in the worst period of inflation in the history of our country,” Trump said, which is wrong.Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 under the Biden administration, when prices in many parts of the country were rising sharply. The last time inflation was above 9% was in 1981, but it was well above that number at several other times in U.S. history. Since its peak in mid-2022, inflation has fallen significantly, and rising prices remain a top concern for many voters.

Trump Answers Questions About Abortion

The moderators have now turned to one of the issues that is top of mind for voters: abortion rights.

They have asked Trump to clarify his position on the issue, given that he has made contradictory statements on the subject in the past.

Trump began by claiming that Democrats want to allow abortions in the "ninth month" of pregnancy.

He said Democrats are "radical" on this point and claimed that Harris's pick for vice president, Tim Waltz, is particularly advocating for abortions in the ninth month of pregnancy.

Trump went on to say that he helped put the issue up to the states to decide and said he believes exceptions can be made for cases of rape and incest.

Harris responds to Trump's abortion comments

After Trump accused some states of allowing "killing" babies after they are born, the host said: "There is not a single state in this country that allows killing a baby after it is born."

Harris pointed out that Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices who overturned state abortion rights two years ago.

She said multiple states have passed "Trump abortion bans, with no exceptions for rape and incest."

"You're saying this is what people want?" she said, describing women who were "bleeding out in their cars in parking lots" because they couldn't get abortions.

"They don't want this," she said, her voice getting emotional.

Harris takes her stand in the abortion debate

So far, Harris has incorporated plenty of facts and data into her answers. But abortion is one of the issues Harris is most concerned about, and she got very personal and vivid when she talked about it.

“I’ve spoken to women all over the country about this,” she said, her voice rising. “Women suffering from miscarriages” are being “denied treatment in emergency rooms because the health care providers are worried they might go to jail,” she said.

Harris has taken a leading role in the Biden administration’s advocacy for reproductive rights, so this is comfortable territory for her.

Harris blames Trump for border problems

We’re now back to immigration, with Harris saying her job is “the only one in this arena” to prosecute smugglers.

She always blames Donald Trump for border problems because he tried to derail a bipartisan border security bill—a common refrain among Democrats.

“You know what happened? Donald Trump called some people in Congress and asked them to veto this bill. Why? Because he prefers to fix problems rather than solve them.”

She is now discussing his remarks at rallies, saying supporters leave his rallies “out of exhaustion and boredom.”

Harris slams Trump’s ‘Hannibal Lecter’ comments

Harris just launched her most pointed attack on Trump yet.

She says Trump likes to talk about topics that have nothing to do with policy issues and invites people to his rallies.

“It’s a really interesting phenomenon,” she said, adding that he talks about “fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter.”

“People are starting to leave his rallies early because they’re tired and bored,” she said.

Trump claimed “no one” was attending Harris’ rally.

Trump makes unfounded claim that immigrants are eating pets

Trump cited unfounded claims that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been eating household pets.

“They eat dogs. They eat the pets of the people who live there,” Trump said.

Host David Muir noted that the mayor of Springfield said there was no evidence of that.

“Well, I saw someone on TV saying ‘my dog ​​was taken for food,’ ” Trump said.

Harris responded at the outset by saying “talk about extremes.”

Harris mentions Trump’s criminal history

Harris attacked Trump’s criminal history in response to his allegations of “immigrant crimes.”

“I thought that was so interesting for someone who’s been indicted for national security crimes, for economic crimes, for election interference,” she said.

Trump responded by repeating some of the same claims he’s made in the past about the criminal cases he’s faced, saying they amount to a “weaponization” of the justice system.

“These are fake cases,” he said.

The fight over fracking

Fracking is the process of pumping water, sand and chemicals into the ground to extract oil and gas from dense rock formations. Currently, the vast majority of oil and gas production in the United States relies on hydraulic fracturing, a process opposed by environmental groups that oppose fossil fuel production and worry about groundwater contamination.

Harris said: "My position is that we have to invest in a variety of energy sources to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

She added: "Because we realized we couldn't be overly dependent on foreign oil, we had the largest increase in domestic oil production in history."

Trump insisted that Harris would ban fracking "on day one" if she entered the White House, although she recently said she would not ban the practice.

Trump has portrayed Harris as the doomsday of fossil fuels and said that if she is elected, "we will go back to the windmill, we will go back to the solar energy." However, oil production has actually risen under Biden and Harris.

Harris stirs up Trump's anger

One potential strategy Harris could use is to get Trump off topic and give a rally-style monologue to show his angry side to undecided voters.

She simply invoked those rallies, claiming that people left early because they were "exhausted" and saying that Trump brought up "fictional characters" like Hannibal Lecter.

Trump was clearly angry. He ignored the moderator's questions and launched into a lengthy defense of his attendance at the rally, then made an unfounded allegation that immigrants were eating pets in Ohio.

Since that exchange, Trump has been speaking louder and tougher. This has clearly changed the tone of the current debate.

Capitol Hill debate turns deadly riot

The two's discussion then turned to the riots at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump was asked about his role. Before the attack, he gave a speech at the White House, telling his supporters to go to the Capitol and watched the attack unfold on television. He posted a tweet calling on the rioters to leave.

"I said in my speech to protest in a peaceful, patriotic way, not after the speech," Trump said, adding that his speech did not call for violence.

The host further asked, "Do you have any regrets about what you did that day?"

Trump retorted, "I had nothing to do with it, it's just that they asked me to give a speech."

He went on to blame Democrat Nancy Pelosi for not adding more security to the Capitol.

The hosts wanted to continue the topic of the riots at the U.S. Capitol. They asked Harris to respond to Trump.

Harris noted that she was before Congress that day as a U.S. senator and vice president-elect.

“That was the day the president of the United States incited a mob to storm our nation’s Capitol and desecrate our nation’s Capitol,” she said.

“The former president was indicted and impeached for that very reason,” Harris said.

She also referenced a 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists marched while chanting anti-Semitic and racist slogans. The rally took place early in Trump’s term, and Trump has been criticized for his response to it.

Harris Prosecutor

Harris has said repeatedly that she will bring a case against Donald Trump, and her campaign has tried to portray this election as a battle between prosecutors and felons.

Harris reminded the audience that he has been involved in four criminal cases in New York and has been convicted of felonies, and we are sure to see more of that strategy tonight.

Trump responded by saying his opponents have "weaponized" the Justice Department against him.

Trump doubles down on 2020 election denial

Donald Trump continued to insist he won the race against Joe Biden when asked about the 2020 election, despite a lack of evidence that he actually won the election.

In his speech, Trump said there was "too much evidence" that he won the election, although he did not provide many details.

"We had a bad election, a lot of illegal immigrants came in, and the government tried to get them to vote," he said. "They didn't even speak English."

Kamala Harris said Trump's continued denial of the election results showed he might not have the "temperament" to return to the White House.

She added: “Donald Trump has been fired by 81 million people.”

Debate turns to Israel’s war in Gaza

Harris was asked how she would handle Israel’s war in Gaza and how to break the stalemate.

She repeated some of her previous remarks on the issue, saying Israel has the right to defend itself but how it defends itself matters.

“This war has to end,” she added. "It has to end now."

Harris went on to call for a ceasefire and eventually "rebuilding Gaza" through a two-state solution.

Trump: 'Israel will no longer exist in two years' if Harris wins

Trump was asked how he would end the war in Gaza and repatriate civilians held hostage by Hamas.

He began his response by claiming that the conflict "would never have started" if he were still president.

"She hates Israel. If she's elected president, I believe in two years Israel will no longer exist,"

He added that she also "hates Arabs" because "the whole place is bombed out."

"I'm going to get this fixed as soon as possible," he said, adding that when he's re-elected the war between Russia and Ukraine will also be over. "This could start World War III!" Trump made this judgment regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Trump declined to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win its war with Russia, saying "I want the war to stop" and save lives, and complained about the amount of U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

He went on to talk about the cost of Russia's war in Ukraine to the United States, claiming Europe is paying much less than the United States.

He said he knows Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin "very well."

China-U.S. relations, India issues in the election

As the gap between the United States and China continues to widen, assets related to India - the U.S. strategic neutralizer against China - may become the biggest winner in Asia in the presidential election.

No matter who wins the election, India - long called the "next China" - will continue to benefit from portfolio flows and supply chain rotation from the mainland. At the same time, the fact that the South Asian country is led by domestic demand will put the world's leading economy in a relatively good position to withstand any U.S.-led slowdown.

The stock market has replaced China as the emerging market anchor of one of the MSCI Inc. indexes and is expected to achieve the same in the key MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Meanwhile, China's CSI 300 index is approaching its lowest level since 2019, exacerbating a crisis of confidence in the world's second-largest economy.

Beyond India, the future direction of Sino-U.S. relations will be a focus for stock investors in the region during the U.S. presidential debate on Wednesday morning. In particular, sectors such as semiconductors, solar panels and defense will be in the spotlight.

Other information worth paying attention to

What is Harris' debate history?

In the key debates of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, one candidate seemed to dominate the stage.

They interrupted their opponents at key moments and sometimes even interrupted them when they spoke. They directly confronted their opponent, Joe Biden, making headlines for days, with critics questioning whether they had violated some kind of unspoken political etiquette.

That candidate, however, was not Donald Trump. It was Kamala Harris.

Harris took to the debate stage again tonight. Debates have played a major role in her political career, from her run for California Attorney General to her rise to the vice presidency.

It's clear that Harris knows when to steal the spotlight, but also when to sit back and watch as her opponents do the dirty work.

In her earliest debates, she found success by letting her opponents do the dirty work. She also proved adept at fighting for her own voice, even in a crowded field.

How Trump will handle this debate

Yesterday, Trump campaign officials and their surrogates held a media conference call to outline their expectations for today's debate and briefly outline the former president's strategy against Kamala Harris.

During the call, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said Trump's overarching message was that Harris was "responsible for every failure of the Biden administration" and believed she played a key role in every decision made in the past nearly four years.

"You can't talk about turning over a new leaf when you're the one who created our current nightmare," Miller said.

Two key Trump supporters - Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard - listed a series of attack lines that Trump might use against Harris, including the U.S.-Mexico border, crime and lack of foreign policy success.

“President Trump will associate her with that record,” said Gates, who called the vice president a “dangerous, radical liberal” who will be at high risk tonight.

“She’s been wrapped up since she got the nomination,” he said. “A lot of people haven’t seen her get pressured.”

How are they preparing for the debate?

Both candidates appear to have holed up with their teams in recent days to prepare for tonight’s showdown.

The campaigns regularly hold mock debates, where aides or political allies step in to play the role of their opponents.

The New York Times reported that Kamala Harris spent days preparing with her team in Pittsburgh.

The campaign has reportedly built a replica of the actual debate stage, with a consultant playing the role of Trump.

Trump’s team, on the other hand, is trying to focus on “policy time.”

During last June's debate with Joe Biden, a more restrained version of Trump emerged, a far cry from the politician who frequently interrupted Biden during the 2020 debate, with Biden telling him to "shut up, man."

Which version will emerge tonight remains to be seen, as Trump has had trouble sticking to a discussion of policy lately — much to the chagrin of his allies.

Harris predicts Trump will 'tell a lot of lies' in debate

Kamala Harris says she expects Donald Trump to "tell a lot of lies," which she calls a "very old and tired script."

"He has no boundaries, he won't be mean to that extent. We should be prepared because he won't feel burdened to tell the truth," she said in a pre-recorded interview with US radio host Ricky Smiley on Monday.

Harris added that she believes Trump "tends to fight for himself rather than for the American people, and I think that will come out during the debate."

She added that Trump "will lie," and pointed to his previous comments about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

"We should expect that some of that may be revealed," Harris said.

Pennsylvania voters split on economy, abortion

Kelly and Joseph Graham will focus tonight on how both rivals promise to lower the cost of living, which has been rising under the Biden administration.

They sat on their porch in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, under a handwritten “$2 Eggs” sign in their yard: Amid tough economic conditions in the area, the couple bought their own chickens.

“He knows how to straighten things out,” Kelly said of Trump. “You know, he’s a businessman, and our economy is a mess. Our food is terrible, our prices are terrible.”

Pennsylvania is perilously close, polls show, as a key swing state. But the candidates are not evenly matched. These rural areas overwhelmingly support Trump, while Harris leads in urban areas.

There was another divide — Men disproportionately supported Trump, while women were more likely to support Harris. It put a spotlight on one of Trump’s weaknesses: his record on abortion rights, an issue on which Kelly and Joseph have different views.

“I don’t believe in abortion,” Joseph said.

Kelly countered: “That’s a woman’s right. That’s not for the government to decide… That’s everybody’s business, not the country or the government’s business.”

Trump allies urged him to stick to policy

National and swing-state polls show many voters still don’t know enough about Kamala Harris and her positions, with many viewing Donald Trump as closer to the center of the political spectrum than she is.

That means the debate is an important opportunity for Harris to reintroduce herself to voters and define who she is — but it’s also a chance for Trump to shape voters’ perceptions of her.

Many of his high-profile supporters have said in public interviews that Republican candidates should avoid criticizing Harris' intelligence, appearance or other personal traits and instead focus on policy criticism.

In a media appearance over the weekend, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley — who ran against Trump in the Republican primary but has since endorsed him — said he and his running mate, JD Vance, "need to change the way they talk about women."

"You don't need to call Kamala stupid. You know, it's not an accident that she got to this point," she told Fox News.

"The bottom line is, we win on policy. Stick to policy and drop everything else. That's how he wins."

Trump's Republican opponents praised Harris

Olivia Troyer and Anthony Scaramucci both endorsed Harris.

Just a few days ago, I was in the "spin room" in the media area near the debate site, where campaign officials and surrogates will roam with reporters throughout the afternoon and evening.

The first people I saw entering the area were Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trump’s White House communications director, and Olivia Troyer, a Trump-era national security official who has become an outspoken critic of the former president.

Both were there to express support for Kamala Harris.

Troyer noted in a call with reporters that “a lot of people” who work for Trump have said they don’t support him as president.

“I think that says a lot about where the Republican Party is today,” she added.“[Trump] contradicts the values ​​of the Republican Party, contradicts the values ​​of the party of Ronald Reagan.”

Troyer said she remains a conservative — “my values ​​haven’t changed” — and disagrees with some of the Harris-Waltz campaign’s policy views.

However, she said she thinks Harris and Waltz "represent those values" better than Trump does.

How are Trump and Harris doing in battleground state polls?

There are 50 states in the United States, and most of them almost always vote for the same party. The few states where both candidates have a chance of winning are called battleground states.

Right now, polls are so close in seven states considered battlegrounds in this election that it's hard to know who truly has the most support right now.

The latest average compiled by poll analysts is 538, which puts Kamala Harris and Donald Trump within a percentage point of each other in five states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Harris currently leads by two points in Michigan and three points in Wisconsin.

Battleground polls show Harris leading in five of seven states: by less than a point in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Nevada; by two points in Michigan; and by three points in Wisconsin. Trump leads by less than a point in Arizona and Georgia.

Pro-Palestinian Protesters Gather Near Debate

A few blocks from the convention center where Trump and Harris will go head-to-head, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Philadelphia City Hall.

From what I could see, there were police officers standing guard near the demonstrators, but everything seemed calm.

Some colleagues also saw the crowd as they marched, with some demonstrators holding signs that read "Abandon Harris" - the name of a recently formed group that has criticized the vice president for US support for Israel's war in Gaza.

Gavin Newsom predicts Harris will "file a lawsuit" against Trump

California Governor Gavin Newsom, one of the highest-profile surrogates on Harris' campaign, had just spoken to reporters in the "press room" minutes earlier.

Newsom said "this debate is important for Harris" and that she must use the opportunity to "reintroduce herself to the American public" in her relatively nascent campaign.

"I think the 'why' is important," Newsom told reporters. "What's your motivation? But I think she's going to talk about you [the voters], not about herself."

"Beyond that, I think she's going to prosecute this case. Not just against Donald Trump and his extremism, but for a future where we can celebrate our differences."

In addition, Newsom predicted the debate would "be interesting," especially if Harris annoys Trump and irritates him.

"He's the most easily manipulated person I've ever met," Newsom said. "It's weakness disguised as strength."

Immediate reaction from Philadelphia voters was mixed

Fabienne Clark, 74, of Philadelphia, said she was annoyed that Donald Trump talked about Roe v. Wade, the law that legalized abortion but was overturned by Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices.

She thought Kamala Harris made important points about protecting abortion rights and improving the economy and inflation.

She believes the vice president is currently winning the debate.

Another voter, Tom Szkaradnik, thought the two were neck and neck.

He thought Trump made a good point about tariffs and questioned why the Biden administration hadn’t rolled back the tariffs.