Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, and former president Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, face off on Tuesday night in the second Presidential Debate of 2024.
This is the first time the two have appeared in public together. The first presidential debate was between Trump and US President Joe Biden before Biden dropped out of the race and was replaced by Harris.
The two candidates addressed the topic of the Israel-Hamas war and debated on the topics of the economy, abortion, immigration, and the Russia-Ukraine war – among other topics.
The live stream of the debate is available for viewing below.
Israel-Hamas war
On the topic of the Israel-Hamas war, Harris said, “Let’s understand how we got here. Hamas, a terrorist organization, slaughtered 1200 Israelis, many of them young people who were simply attending a concert, some of whom were horribly raped. Israel has a right to defend itself. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
“This war must end,” she added. “It must end immediately. We need a ceasefire deal, and we need the hostages out. We must chart a course for a two-state solution, security for Israel, and with equal measure for the Palestinians, any threat that Iran and its proxies.”
In response, Trump said, “If I were president, it [the war] would have never started. She hates Israel. She wouldn’t even meet with [Prime Minister] Netanyahu when he went to Congress. If she was president, I believe Israel would not exist within two years. She hates the Arab population.”
Regarding the economy, Harris said, “I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people, and that is why I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy.”
Trump said, “Look, we’ve had a terrible economy because of inflation, which is really known as a country buster.”
“People can’t go out and buy cereal or bacon or eggs or anything else. The people of our country are absolutely dying with what they’ve done. They’ve destroyed the economy,” he added.
Stance on abortion
Delving into the topic of abortion, Harris said, “I pledge to you when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v Wade as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.”
Trump said, “Now, I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. … Now states are voting on it. … Each individual state is voting. It’s the vote of the people. Now it’s not tied up in the federal government.”
Harris slammed Trump about immigration, saying, “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.”
“Our country is being lost. We’re a failing nation,” Trump said, referring to people crossing into the country illegally.
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