Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump came face-to-face for the first time on Tuesday during ABC’s presidential debate in Philadelphia. Harris and Trump sparred over topics including abortion, immigration and the economy over the course of the 90-minute debate. An estimated 67.1 million people tuned in — with 6.4 million viewers in the age 18 to 34 bracket. Now, Trump has said he won’t debate Harris again.
Trump couldn’t avoid wading into conspiratorial waters during the debate, bringing up baseless social media rumors about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and lying about how they are “eating the pets of the people that live there.” Local officials have repeatedly refuted these claims, which have wreaked havoc for Springfield residents. Haitian residents there are facing harassment and threats, and several town buildings, including an elementary school, have been evacuated due to bomb threats.
Back on their tour of battleground states, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are emphasizing messages of unity. In response to the Springfield conspiracy, the crowd at Walz’s Michigan rally on Thursday broke into chants of “we’re not eating cats.”
Also on Tuesday night, pop superstar Taylor Swift officially endorsed Harris in an Instagram post, while taking a jab at Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, in the process. Meanwhile, Trump has been traveling with white nationalist Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist who’s claimed Sept. 11 was an “inside job” and is too extreme for even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Hours after their debate, Trump and Harris shook hands at a 9/11 commemoration in New York that President Joe Biden also attended. Harris and Biden, and later Trump, visited the home of the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, later that day.
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