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PHILADELPHIA: Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump met on Tuesday for their first and possibly only debate, a showdown that could have a major impact on the Nov. 5 election as polls show a tight race.

Here are the takeaways from the debate:

DIVIDE HER RIVAL

Harris tried to get under Trump's skin, as her campaign predicted.

She encouraged viewers to attend a Trump rally, where she said Trump would say outlandish things like windmills cause cancer (which he did, in fact), and where, she quipped, attendees would leave exhausted and bored.

Trump, who prides himself on the crowds he draws, was visibly angry.

“My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” he said. He accused Harris of driving visitors to her rallies.

Trump then falsely claimed that immigrants in the country illegally were killing and eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio, an unsubstantiated claim that went viral on social media and was expanded upon by Trump's running mate, Jay D. Vance.

“They eat dogs in Springfield! People who came in, they eat cats!” Trump said. “They eat the pets of the people who live there.”

Springfield city officials said the reports were untrue, which ABC moderators pointed out after Trump's comments.

“Talk about extreme,” Harris replied with a laugh.

GAME IN DEFENSE

Another of Harris' goals as a former California attorney was to impeach Trump for his past actions, particularly his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

After an hour of debate, her strategy paid off. Trump has been on the defensive all along.

When asked about the siege of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, he insisted he had “nothing to do with it other than they asked me to give a speech.” He also falsely claimed to have won the 2020 election.

Harris used Trump's actions as an argument for the country to turn the page.

“Donald Trump fired 81 million people, so let's get this straight, and obviously it's very difficult for him to process this, but we can't afford to have a president of the United States who is trying, as he has done in the past, to overturn the will of the voters on the free and fair elections,” Harris said.

The vice president poked fun at Trump some more, saying world leaders are “laughing” at him and calling him a disgrace, a term Trump has used at rallies to refer to how he said other countries view President Joe Biden .

Minutes later, Trump erupted, claiming that Harris had received “no votes” in her bid for the Democratic nomination, and suggested that she had replaced Biden in some sort of coup d'état.
“He hates her,” Trump said of Biden. “He can't stand her.”

The exchanges may have helped Harris' argument that Trump lacks what she called the “temperament” to be president.

RACIAL DIVISION

In the depths of the discussion, the topic of race, which has been simmering for a long time, arose. Trump was asked why he publicly questioned Harris' dual heritage as a black and South Asian woman.

“I don't care what she is,” he replied. “I read that she was Black. Then I read that she's not black.'

Asked to respond, Harris accused Trump of using race to divide Americans throughout his career. She mentioned how he and his father turned away black tenants in the 1970s and how Trump led a public protest against five young black and Hispanic men who were wrongfully convicted of attacking a jogger in New York's Central Park in 1989.

Most recently, he openly questioned whether President Barack Obama is a US citizen, Harris noted.

“I think it's a tragedy that we have somebody who wants to be president who has consistently, throughout his career, tried to use race to divide the American people,” she said.

“I think the American people want better,” Harris added. “We don't want a leader who is constantly trying to get Americans to point fingers at each other.”

Instead of trying to defend his record, Trump returned to the economy and tried to tie Biden's economic policies to Harris. “She's trying to get away from Biden,” he said.

Harris used the attack to reassert herself as an agent of change.

“Obviously I'm not Joe Biden and I'm certainly not Donald Trump,” Harris said, “and I'm offering a new generation of leadership for our country.”

HANDSHAKE

At the beginning of the debate, there was a question about how Harris and Trump, who have never met, would greet each other.

Harris settled the question, finally. She approached Trump at the podium, extended her hand and introduced herself as “Kamala Harris.”

For Harris, it was a disarming way to approach a man who had been insulting her race and gender for weeks.

SPARRING ON THE ECONOMY

In the first minutes of the debate, Trump and Harris clashed over one of the issues most important to voters: the economy.

Harris detailed the economic policies she has implemented in recent weeks, which include a significant tax break for small startups. Trump focused his comments on the tariffs, saying they would protect the American economy from unfair foreign competition.

While both sides got their jabs, Harris had to speak first on the topic of where she trails Trump in terms of voter trust. She seemed to put the former president on the back foot, and Trump essentially played defensive on one of the most powerful issues.

“She doesn't have a plan,” Trump said after Harris' opening remarks. “It's like 'Run, find, run.'

SPLIT ON ABORTION

The two candidates have also engaged in a heated debate over abortion, in which polls show Harris leading.

Trump defended a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended constitutional protections for abortion and sent the issue back to individual states, incorrectly claiming it was the outcome both Republicans and Democrats wanted. Democrats have long supported the constitutional right to abortion.

“I did a great service by doing this. It took courage,” said Trump.

Trump claimed that some states allow abortions for babies after birth, which was corrected by ABC News moderator Lynsey Davis.

Harris expressed some dismay at Trump's claim that abortion has become a state's rights issue is a popular outcome, referring to states that have passed restrictive bans.

“Is this what the people wanted?” Harris asked. “Are people being denied care in the emergency room because medical professionals are afraid of being sent to jail?”

Trump was asked if he would veto a federal abortion ban if it were passed by Congress. He insisted that would never happen, but refused to definitively answer the question.

THE WORLD IS ALONE

One of the most heated political debates came as Trump and Harris clashed over how they would deal with Russia's ongoing incursion into Ukraine.

The candidates' answers revealed how fundamentally different their views are on America's role in the world.

Trump refused to say he wanted Ukraine to win the war, even when ABC host David Muir pressed him on the matter, saying only that he wanted to end the conflict as quickly as possible.

Harris responded by claiming that Trump really wanted Ukraine's quick and unconditional surrender.

“If Donald Trump were president, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now,” Harris said.

'ARMED JUSTICE

During a heated exchange, Trump and Harris accused each other of conspiring to “weaponize” the Justice Department in an attempt to go after their enemies.

Trump said the charges he faces for conspiring to overturn his 2020 election defeat and for mishandling classified documents and forging documents related to secret payments to a porn star were the result of a conspiracy orchestrated by Harris and Biden. There is no evidence for this claim.

Harris responded by noting that Trump has promised to go after his enemies if he wins a second term.

“Understand that this is someone who has openly said that he will terminate, I quote, terminate the Constitution,” Harris said.

The exchange emphasized that Harris and Trump see the stakes of this election as existential. Both see the opponent as a threat to democracy itself.