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

Evoking the chaos of the Jan. 6 insurrection was key to Harris’ message on protecting democracy at the DNC and the same is true tonight. It could be a good strategy for her: Earlier this year, undecided voters in a 538/PerryUndem focus group told us Trump’s actions on that day were one of their main concerns they had about supporting the former president.

“For everyone watching who remembers what January 6 was, I say we don’t have to go back," Harris said. "And if that was a bridge too far for you, well, there is a place in our campaign for you,” she added, alluding to the Republicans who’ve vocally supported her due to their disapproval of Trump’s actions that day.

—538's Tia Yang

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.

"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.

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.