Harris-Trump Debate Was A Masterclass on Fact-checking Fascism

About a week ago, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump had their first meeting. During a live debate moderated by ABC journalists Linsey Davis and David Muir, Trump and Harris discussed various policies, including their respective stances on abortion. When this segment came up, moderators asked Trump about the 6-week abortion ban that has taken effect in several states.

Trump then claimed that pregnant people “have abortions in the 9th month.” He even added that in West Virginia, they are “executing babies.” Davis, who fact-checked this claim, noted that infanticide is illegal in all 50 states. In touting these erroneous claims, Trump argued that his administration would emphasize states’ rights.

This rationalization was also used at another pivotal time in American history: during the Civil War when Southern states argued for their right to keep people enslaved. This idea of giving power back to the states is antiquated, at best. However, the debate did not linger on the idea of state rights and instead moved on to talk about the tenets of Project 2025 as they pertained to abortion.

Linsey Davis asked Trump, “Would you veto a national abortion ban?” Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, had previously said that Trump would, and Trump refuted this claim by noting that he and Vance had not discussed it (he also never answered the question directly but instead did some delayed hedging before the moderators moved on).

When the topic of abortion was passed to Harris, she maintained that she would restore Roe v. Wade. Trump challenged this claim, noting that President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris made similar promises on student loans, and they did not deliver. 

Trump’s combative temperament would come up as a talking point later in the debate as well. Yet, Harris had predicted early on that Trump would resort to name-calling and airing grievances. 

You’re going to hear from the same old tired playbook.

Vice President Kamala Harris

She said, “You’re going to hear from the same old tired playbook,” and in the debate, Trump did pull from this “playbook.” Like at his rallies, he resorted to racist, baseless anti-immigrant rhetoric. At one point, he blurted, “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” This was about an influx of Haitian immigrants who came to Springfield, Ohio.

Although Muir noted that reports from Ohio’s city manager contradicted this claim, Trump maintained that he had seen TV reports of this behavior. (CNN reported that these reports came from right-wing media). Yet, this was not Trump’s only claim about immigrants.

He also claimed that “Crime in this country is ‘through the roof’,” and it’s because of immigrants. Yet, Muir said that FBI statistics show a downward trend of crime in America. Trump still kept with his party’s position on immigration, even going as far as to spew conservative word salad when he said Harris and Biden were allowing “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”

Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.

Donald Trump

Moreover, when moderators asked Trump about his plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, he avoided answering the question. Avoidance and deflection were two main strategy points for Trump during this debate. When he was grilled on his election interference and the January 6 scandal, he deflected to immigration and BLM protests. Muir also asked Trump if he had contended with the fact that he lost in 2020; Trump called it sarcasm when he admitted that he lost (implying that he does not believe he lost).

When they arrived at the topic of January 6, Harris noted that Trump was “indicted and impeached” for that. She then cited other instances where he acted out of character for a President. During the Charlottesville alt-right attacks, she noted that he said, “There were fine people on both sides.” She mentioned that he told Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” and he said, “There will be a bloodbath if the outcome of this election is not to his liking.”

Trump refuted these claims for an apparent lack of context. 

Yet, he failed to refute Harris’ opening statements about him, which included that he had the “worst unemployment since the Great Depression, the worst public health epidemic in a century, and the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War.” Trump did attempt to refute the claim about COVID-19, but Vice President Harris noted that he praised China’s President Xi Jinping for his COVID response.

Harris did not just challenge Trump on his economic failings during his presidency. She also challenged his ideas on race throughout his career as a public figure. She brought up the Exonerated Five, against whom he took out a full-page ad in New York papers. She too brought up his birtherism crusade from when Barack Obama campaigned for president.

When it came to foreign policy, Trump had more to say about Harris, including that she skipped a meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go to a “sorority party.” According to Trump, Harris “hates” Israel, and they will not exist in two years because of her. Harris then defended her love for Israel, and she maintained U.S. support for Israel. Although Harris advocated for a two-state solution in her comments during the debate, some do not believe this is a feasible solution. Moreover, Harris’ says she “will always give Israel the ability to defend itself.” On this issue, she and Trump are both to the right. Yet, the comparisons between these candidates are slightly limited.

Her approach to the debate was calm and calculated, unlike Trump’s consistent combativeness. Due to his consistent faux pas, Harris emerged as the clear winner of the debate.