What Trump and Harris said at the debate about Americans’ top issues – Washington Examiner
The summary covers a recent debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, focusing on the most pressing concerns for voters as identified by Google Trends. Immigration emerged as the most-searched topic, with Trump making controversial claims about migrants, while Harris emphasized her experience with prosecuting crimes linked to trafficking and criticized Trump’s failure to advance bipartisan immigration reform.
In the healthcare discussion, Trump spoke of a potential alternative to the Affordable Care Act, while Harris expressed support for maintaining and expanding it, highlighting recent drug price caps. Regarding abortion, Harris pledged to support legislation to restore rights under Roe v. Wade, while Trump advocated for state control over abortion laws without endorsing a national ban.
On crime, Trump linked the issue to illegal immigration and criticized Democratic policies, while Harris pointed out the various legal challenges Trump faces, positioning herself as committed to law and order. Lastly, the discussion on wages saw Harris proposing tax credits to bolster small businesses, while she criticized Trump’s tariffs as a harmful tax burden on consumers.
the debate provided a platform for both candidates to present their stances on critical issues, which will likely shape the upcoming election landscape.
What Trump and Harris said about most-searched concerns in US
The first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump offered the latest window into how the White House hopefuls will tackle a myriad of voters’ top concerns.
Immigration consistently topped the Google Trends list as the most-searched topic Wednesday, followed by varying levels of interest in healthcare, abortion, crime, and wages.
Here’s what Trump and Harris said on each matter during Tuesday night’s 90-minute televised showdown on ABC News.
Immigration
One of the most memorable moments came when the debate moderators turned to immigration and border security, which regularly poll as top-of-mind matters for voters.
Trump amplified unfounded claims that migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating residents’ pets in an attempt to highlight the high number of illegal crossings under the Biden administration. Local Ohio officials say such assertions are untrue.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats,” Trump said. “They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.”
Trump reinforced his vow to undertake the largest mass deportation in U.S. history of some 11 million undocumented migrants with the help of the National Guard, federal authorities, and local police. But he declined to offer details on how he would achieve such a lofty policy goal.
“They allowed criminals. Many, many, millions of criminals. They allowed terrorists. They allowed common street criminals. They allowed people to come in, drug dealers, to come into our country, and they’re now in the United States,” Trump said. “They’ve destroyed the fabric of our country.”
Harris touted her former experience prosecuting “transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings.”
She laid blame on congressional Republicans and Trump for opposing a bipartisan Senate border bill that failed earlier this year and would have clamped down on illegal crossings.
Following that legislation’s failure, President Joe Biden imposed tough new asylum restrictions in June through executive action, which caused crossings to drop sharply just months before the November election.
Harris declined to say she would have addressed the matter differently or respond sooner, at one point pivoting to criticize the size of Trump’s rallies.
“What we have in the former president is someone who would prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” Harris said. “And I’ll tell you something, he’s going to talk about immigration a lot tonight even when it’s not the subject that is being raised.”
Healthcare
Trump suggested Republicans were working on an alternative to the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Congressional Republicans were unable to repeal the law when they controlled both chambers under Trump, and repeated GOP attempts to roll it back prior to Trump were unsuccessful.
“If we can come up with a plan that’s going to cost our people, our population less money and be better healthcare than Obamacare, then I would absolutely do it,” Trump said. “But until then, I’d run it as good as it can be run.”
Harris said she no longer supported replacing private insurance with a government-run health care system, a position championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that she backed in 2017. She vowed to “maintain and grow the Affordable Care Act” and touted price caps signed into law by Biden for certain prescription drugs and insulin.
Abortion
Harris pledged to sign into law any bill passed by Congress to reinstate abortion access under Roe v. Wade.
In a brief back-and-forth exchange with Trump that featured a rare moment of unmuted mics, she declined to state whether the procedure should be allowed after seven months. Trump declined to say whether he’d veto legislation codifying Roe.
Trump reaffirmed his belief that the decision should be left to the states and that he does not support a national abortion ban. He made the eyebrow-raising admission he hadn’t discussed abortion with his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), and claimed that babies were killed after being born under abortion laws.
Trump stated that Democrats say “the baby will be born, and we will decide what to do with the baby. In other words, we’ll execute the baby.”
Crime
Many of Trump’s remarks on crime were tied to illegal immigration and policies in Democratic-led cities he derided as soft on crime. FBI statistics showing a downward national trend in violent crime from previous highs were inaccurate, Trump said.
“All over the world crime is down. All over the world except here. Crime here is up and through the roof,” Trump said. “Despite their fraudulent statements that they made. Crime in this country is through the roof. And we have a new form of crime. It’s called migrant crime.”
Harris took the opportunity to note the various criminal charges against Trump and his conviction, declining to address the matter head-on.
“I think this is so rich. Coming from someone who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault, and his next big court appearance is in November at his own criminal sentencing,” she said.
In the context of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Harris said she was the sole candidate with “respect for the rule of law and respect for law enforcement.”
Wages
The moderators addressed the economy right at the beginning of the debate, posing the age-old question to Harris of whether Americans were better off now than they were four years ago. She largely dodged the question.
Harris outlined her economic plan that includes a $50,000 tax credit for launching small businesses and a $6,000 tax credit for new parents. She derided Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported goods as a “Trump sales tax” that would amount to a 20% tax on everyday goods and cost families $4,000 more per year.
“Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression,” she said. “Donald Trump left us the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”
Trump said the tariffs would counter China in particular, and he rejected the notion by Harris he would install tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. He also highlighted the record inflation levels that occurred under Biden’s tenure.
“Everybody knows what I’m going to do. Cut taxes very substantially. And create a great economy like I did before. We had the greatest economy. We got hit with a pandemic,” Trump said. “We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic. We handed them over a country where the economy and where the stock market was higher than it was before the pandemic came in. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it.”
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