This is a waste of time, she has been worthless, Trump said finally about Harris' debate performance.
For 90 minutes, the Republican and Democrat had verbally fought. Trump occasionally gave an angry impression and swallowed Harris' bait – which made him go off on tangents about, for example, audience numbers and his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Harris, on the other hand, avoided certain questions, including whether Americans are better off now than four years ago. The former prosecutor portrayed Trump as confused and dangerous, often shaking her head in disbelief when he said something she disagreed with.
Trump: They're laughing
A number of eyebrow-raising statements were made. Harris claimed that Trump admires dictators and referred to his "love letters" to North Korea's Kim Jong-Un. Donald Trump claimed that Harris' running mate Tim Walz thinks it's okay to kill newborns.
I warned you that you would hear a lot of lies tonight, Harris commented.
Throughout the debate, Trump attacked Harris for her time as Joe Biden's vice president. The whole world is laughing at the USA, the former president claimed.
Same old script, Harris countered, questioning why Trump didn't want to talk about the future, about the USA's strength and ability to achieve great things.
A brave thing?
It got heated when the topic of abortion rights was discussed – an issue that the Democrats, with Harris at the forefront, have profiled themselves on ahead of the November election. Donald Trump thought he did a "brave" thing when Roe vs. Wade, the precedent that guaranteed abortion rights in the USA, was overturned during his presidency. He claimed that "everyone" wanted to return the abortion issue to the states.
Harris, on the other hand, promised to reintroduce national abortion rights if she becomes president.
The government, and Donald Trump in particular, should never tell a woman what to do with her body.
Returned to immigration
TV channel ABC fact-checked the statements in real-time and at several points, the moderators clarified false claims. Like when Donald Trump repeated the myth that immigrants in Ohio eat people's pets – which the debate moderator stated was false.
I saw it on TV, Trump said.
Trump repeatedly brought up the topic of migration, even when other topics were being discussed. When he claimed that immigrants are responsible for crime in the USA, the program leaders said that the FBI had a different view. Trump implied that the FBI was making it up.
The former president also repeated false claims that he didn't lose the 2020 election or incite his supporters to storm Congress on January 6, 2021.
Democrat Kamala Harris currently has the support of 48.4 percent of Americans, and Republican Donald Trump has the support of 47.3 percent, according to the political website Real Clear Politics' compilation of current polls.
The USA's complex electoral system means that the election on November 5 will be decided in a few so-called swing states. Here's how the candidates' support looks in these states.
The number of electoral votes in each swing state is in parentheses; to win the presidential election, a candidate needs the support of at least 270 electoral votes.
Pennsylvania (19): Trump: 47.6; Harris: 47.6
Georgia (16): Trump: 48.3; Harris: 48
North Carolina (16): Trump: 47.9; Harris: 47.8
Michigan (15): Harris: 48.3; Trump: 47.1
Arizona (11): Trump: 48.4; Harris: 46.8
Wisconsin (10): Harris: 48.7; Trump: 47.2
Nevada (6): Harris: 48; Trump: 47.4
The presidential election will be held on Tuesday, November 5.
Source: Real Clear Politics
