At Presidential Debate, Kamala Harris Walks Over To Trump, Shakes Hands As She Introduces

As presidential candidates, US Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump headed into the televised debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, there was a question as to how Harris and Trump, who have never met, would greet each other.

Harris settled the issue, definitively. She walked over to Trump at his podium, extended her hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris.”

It was a disarming way for Harris to approach a man who has spent weeks insulting her race and gender.

After that, the debate quickly settled into an expected groove. Harris swiftly painted herself as a forward-looking candidate. She predicted Trump at the debate would pull from the “same tired playbook.”

“A bunch of lies, grievances and name calling,” Harris said.

FIRST MEETING

Trump, who has spent weeks launching personal attacks on Harris that have included racist and sexist insults, largely avoided insults during the debate’s early moments. But he called her a “Marxist” as he grew increasingly agitated.

Trump’s advisers and fellow Republicans had urged him to focus on the high levels of inflation and immigration during Biden’s presidency, though both have dropped dramatically this year.

Presidential debates do not necessarily change voters’ minds, but they can transform the dynamics of a race. Biden’s poor performance against Trump in June led him to abandon his campaign on July 21.

In a contest that could again come down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states, even a small shift in public opinion could alter the outcome. The two candidates are effectively tied in the seven battleground states likely to decide the election, according to polling averages compiled by the New York Times.

The 90-minute debate, hosted by ABC News, was taking place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. As agreed by the campaigns, there was no live audience and candidates’ microphones were muted when it was not their turn to speak.

Harris spent days preparing in Pittsburgh, holding mock sessions on a stage with lights to recreate the debate environment.

Trump instead relied on informal chats with advisers, campaign appearances and media interviews to prepare, with former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard – who had a memorably hostile exchange with Harris in a Democratic presidential debate in 2019 – offering advice.

(With agency inputs)