Trump-Harris debate updates: Candidates go on attack in zinger-filled showdown

Harris and Trump sparred in the high-stakes showdown.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Meredith Deliso, Ivan Pereira, Emily Chang, and Brittany Gaddy
Last Updated: September 11, 2024, 12:52 AM EDT

The first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump turned into a heated matchup that lasted more than 90 minutes.

The night started with a handshake initiated by Harris, but quickly escalated as the vice president bashed Trump over his policies and comments, contending that it was time to "offer is a new generation of leadership for our country."

Trump criticized Harris throughout the debate on topics such as Afghanistan and immigration issues, drawing comparisons between the vice president and President Joe Biden.

With Election Day just eight weeks away, the debate came at a critical point as polls show a neck-and-neck race between the candidates.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing:
Sep 11, 12:12 am

A transcript of the Harris-Trump debate

Harris and Trump met for their first presidential debate on Tuesday night. The consequential matchup was hosted by ABC News at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Read a transcript of what was said in the 90-minute debate here.

Sep 10, 2024, 10:34 PM EDT

CLAIM: The Biden administration left $85 billion worth of 'brand new beautiful military equipment behind' in Afghanistan that was seized by the Taliban.

Fact Check: False.

This is not accurate, as $83 billion is an estimate of the entire amount spent by the US in security assistance in Afghanistan since 2001.

Still, the Defense Department’s Inspector General estimates $7.12 billion worth of U.S.-funded equipment was seized by the Taliban when the U.S. withdrew. According to the government watchdog, that amount includes 78 aircraft, some 9,500 air-to-ground munitions, 40,000 vehicles, 300,000 weapons and nearly all night-vision, surveillance, communications and biometric equipment provided to Afghanistan forces.

Sep 10, 2024, 10:33 PM EDT

Harris emphasizes her campaign's focus on new leadership

"Clearly I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump," she said. "And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country, one who believes in what is possible, one who brings a sense of optimism about what we can do instead of always disparaging the American people."

This is an animating theme of Harris' campaign -- that she is offering the American people something new after a lack of enthusiasm for a Biden-Trump rematch.

Sep 10, 2024, 10:32 PM EDT

Harris hits back on race but doesn't make it about herself

After a stemwinder from Trump about Harris' racial identity, which he had questioned (she's Black and Asian), Harris went on the attack, but didn't focus on herself.

Instead, she focused on Trump's lies about former President Barack Obama's birthplace and past housing practices to cast him as unfit.

"Honestly, I think it's a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people," she said. "I think the American people want better than that. Want better than this."

In a debate where Trump has taken the bait from Harris, the vice president did not return the favor.

Sep 10, 2024, 10:28 PM EDT

CLAIM: Trump said, 'for 18 months, we had nobody killed.'

Fact check: Mostly false.

There was an 18-month period that saw no combat deaths in Afghanistan, but it spanned between Biden and Trump’s presidency in February of 2020 through August of 2021. So it's misleading to suggest Trump oversaw that period alone. Pentagon records show that at least 65 American troops were killed in action during Trump’s term, including 12 hostile deaths in Afghanistan during his last 18 months of his presidency.