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

FACT CHECK: False

Trump suggested that the July 13 assassination attempt may have been because of Harris. The FBI has not established a motive that explains why Thomas Matthew Crooks fired on Trump.

Trump said, “This is the one that weaponized, not me. She weaponized. I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me. They talk about democracy, I'm a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy.”

During the most recent update on the investigation in a briefing with reporters on Aug. 28, FBI Executive Director Robert Wells said, “At this time, the FBI has not identified a motive nor any co-conspirators or associates of Crooks with advanced knowledge of the attack.”

“We continue to see through our analysis a mixture of ideologies. So I would say that we see no definitive ideology associated with our subject, either left-leaning or right-leaning. It's really been a mixture and something that we're still attempting to analyze and draw conclusions on,” FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office Kevin Rojek said at the same briefing.

While they do not know what motivated crooks, the FBI does believe he had a mindset to carry out some kind of attack and looked at Trump’s Butler rally, about an hour from his home, as a “target of opportunity.”

“Regarding the subject's mindset, so we saw, through our analysis of all his - particularly his online searches - a sustained detailed effort to plan an attack on some events, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets. And then when this event was announced, the Trump rally was announced early in July, he became hyper-focused on that specific event and looked at it as a target of opportunity,” Rojek said. “Again, I want to stress that we continue to analyze all the evidence associated with his accounts, with his online search activity. And we have a clear idea of mindset, but we are not ready to make any conclusive statements regarding motive at this time.”

Trump closed out the debate with his closing statement calling out Harris' record in the last three and a half years.

"She's going to do all these wonderful things. Why hasn't she done it? She's been there for three and a half years," he said.

Trump continued attacks on Harris over Afghanistan, the migrant crisis and the economy.

"The worst president, the worst vice president in the history of our country," he said.

4:30

Trump ends debate slamming Harris' record

Trump closed out the debate with his closing statement calling out Harris' record in the last three and a half years.

ABCNews.com

Harris spent her closing statement seeking to draw a final contrast between her vision for the country and that of Trump.

She also sought to take a moment to introduce herself to viewers who may not be familiar with her policies and resume, highlighting her background as a prosecutor, California attorney general and U.S. senator.

"We're not going back," she said. "And I do believe that the American people know we all have so much more in common than what separates us, and we can chart a new way forward."

Fact Check: Needs context

The U.S. budget for clean energy investments (over $559 billion as of August 2023) is the largest in the world, according to the World Economic Forum. About a third of that investment is going toward low-carbon electricity projects, and about a quarter is aimed at developing low-carbon, efficient transportation, according to WEF. In the first quarter of 2024, the U.S. "continued its record-setting growth" with a new high of $71 billion invested in clean energy and transportation, according to Clean Investment Monitor.

At the same time, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in March that the U.S. is now producing more crude oil than any country ever has -- and has been for the past six years in a row. In December 2023 the U.S. reached a new monthly record high of more than 13.3 million barrels per day, according to the EIA.

The Harris-Walz campaign told ABC News that the trillion-dollar amount cited by the vice president is based on the total spending of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In a statement, they told us "Vice President Harris was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote on the largest ever investment to address the climate crisis and under the Biden-Harris Administration, America is more energy secure than ever before with the highest domestic energy production on record."

Even if you take the lowest estimate for federal spending under the IRA, 780-800 billion dollars, adding the funds allocated in the CHIPS and BIL laws does exceed the $1 trillion figures that Harris has cited in her campaign speeches. All three laws include provisions that address climate change.

3:05

Harris touts Biden Administrations clean energy investments

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were asked about fighting climate change.

ABCNews.com