Trump And Harris Hold First Debate

• 11.09.2024, 16:48

Key Statements.

The first debate of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump took place in the United States. The former president and the current vice president of the United States discussed a number of domestic political issues, but they also discussed foreign policy, including the war in Ukraine.

RBC-Ukraine collected the main statements of US presidential candidates at the debate.

The debate, which was supposed to last 90 minutes, dragged on for a while. In particular, because of Trump's lengthy responses. According to CNN, the former president spoke for a total of 43 minutes, while his opponent spoke for 37.5 minutes.

In general, issues of domestic American politics, such as the economy, problems with migrants, the prohibition of abortion, the protection of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, medicine, etc., were given much more attention at the debate than foreign policy topics. However, the issues of Russia's war against Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas also found a place.

Russia's war against Ukraine

Although before the issue of Russian aggression against Ukraine, presidential candidates came only after an hour of debate, its discussion was emotional.

Trump repeated his accusations that Russia would not attack Ukraine if he were president, but evaded answering the moderator's question about whether he wants Kyiv to win this war.

“I want the war to stop. I want to save lives, because people die in millions, the numbers are much higher than those that you get, these are fake numbers,” the former US president said.

Trump also could not disclose his 'peace plan' at the request of the moderator, but said that he would call the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, and after that, according to him, the war would end.

Commenting on this, Harris accused Trump of flirting with dictators, and also said that Trump “would give up in 24 hours,” and “Putin would sit in Kyiv” and look further to Europe.

“You think you're friends with the dictator, but he would eat you for lunch,” the vice president said.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas

Speaking about the conflict that erupted last October between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, Trump used his catchphrase that this war would not have started if he had been the US president. In addition, he said that Israel should “finish the job”, “get quickly over it” and that the US should “let Israel finish the job”.

Harris, for her part, echoed the Joe Biden administration's stance on “ironclad support” and “unyielding loyalty” to Israel from the US and stressed that the country has a right to protection, but added that it is important how it is realized. In this vein, she recalled the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the deaths of civilians in the hostilities.

“We know this war must end. It has to end immediately, and the way it will end is that we need a ceasefire agreement and we need the release of the hostages. Therefore, we will continue to work on this around the clock," she said, adding that she advocates a two-state solution to the conflict.

Trump and Orban

During the debate, Harris rebuked Trump for making many world leaders “laugh at him,” and some of the military leaders, she said, called the ex-president a “disgrace.”

In response, Trump recalled how he was praised by the head of Hungary, Viktor Orban, whom the current US President Joe Biden called a dictator. The ex-president claimed that Orban said that if Trump won the election, Russia and China would be afraid.

"Look, Viktor Orban siad it. He said that Donald Trump is the most respected person and everyone afraid of him ,” he added, and also called Orban “one of the most respected people”.

2020 Elections and Peaceful Transfer of Power

Trump continues to refuse to concede defeat in the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won, and has retracted all of his previous statements that may have suggested otherwise.

“Did I say that? That was said with sarcasm,” he explained, adding that there is “so much evidence” that he won, not Biden.

In addition, Trump refused to admit his responsibility in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which occurred after his statements about the stolen election and the call to go to the US Congress. As Trump said, the then Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi was responsible for security.

Commenting on these events, Harris called for “turning the page” and “not going back.”

“Let's chart a course for the future instead of going back in time,” she stressed.

Migration issue

Speaking about migrants, Trump criticized the Biden-Harris administration for allegedly bringing tens of millions of migrants to the United States during their tenure. He also recalled a fictional story on social media about Haitian migrants in the city of Springfield abducting domestic cats and dogs to eat.

In general, on the issue of migrants, Trump actually operated with inventions and manipulations, while Harris reminded him of the events in the US Congress, when Democrats and Republicans worked out a compromise law to strengthen control on the US-Mexican border, but his approval was disrupted by the Trumpists group.

The issue of migrants and the border, in particular, delayed consideration in the US Congress and the issue of allocating funds for the extension of military assistance to Ukraine. American lawmakers were at an impasse for six months until it was possible to separate the issue of the border from the issue of assistance to Ukraine and Israel.