The Newest: Harris-Trump debate units up dash to election day as first ballots exit in Alabama

Kamala Harris pressed a forceful case in opposition to Donald Trump on Tuesday of their first and maybe solely debate earlier than the presidential election, repeatedly goading him in an occasion that showcased their starkly different visions for the nation on abortion, immigration and American democracy.

Lower than two months from Election Day and hours earlier than the primary early ballots will start to be mailed Wednesday in Alabama, the controversy supplied the clearest look but at a presidential race that has been repeatedly upended.

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When President Joe Biden gave bumbling remarks about abortion on the controversy stage this summer season, it was broadly seen as a missed alternative — a failure, even — on a robust and motivating challenge for Democrats on the poll field.

The distinction was stark, then, on Tuesday night time, when Vice President Kamala Harris gave a forceful protection of abortion rights during her presidential debate with Republican Donald Trump.

Harris conveyed the dire medical conditions ladies have discovered themselves in for the reason that U.S. Supreme Court docket overturned the nationwide proper to abortion in 2022. Harris rapidly positioned blamed instantly on Trump, who recalibrated the Supreme Court docket to the conservative majority that issued the landmark ruling throughout his time period.

Girls, Harris advised the nationwide viewers, have been denied care because of this.

“You wish to discuss that is what individuals wished? Pregnant ladies who wish to carry a being pregnant to time period, affected by a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room as a result of well being care suppliers are afraid they could go to jail and she or he’s bleeding out in a automobile within the car parking zone?” Harris mentioned.

The second was a reminder that Harris is uniquely positioned to speak concerning the hot-button, nationwide matter in a method that Biden, an 81-year-old Catholic who had lengthy opposed abortion, by no means felt comfy doing.

▶ Learn extra about Harris’ debate comments on abortion rights

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio have been abducting and consuming pets, repeating throughout a televised debate the kind of inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric he has promoted all through his campaigns.

There isn’t a proof that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio group are doing that, officers say. However throughout the debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump particularly talked about Springfield, Ohio, the city on the middle of the claims, saying that immigrants have been taking up town.

“They’re consuming the canine. They’re consuming the cats. They’re consuming the pets of the those that reside there,” he mentioned.

Harris known as Trump “excessive” and laughed after his remark. Debate moderators identified that metropolis officers have mentioned the claims are usually not true.

Trump’s feedback echoed claims made by his marketing campaign, together with his operating mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and different Republicans. The claims attracted consideration this week when Vance posted on social media that his workplace has “acquired many inquiries” about Haitian migrants abducting pets. Vance acknowledged Tuesday it was potential “all of those rumors will grow to be false.”

Officers have mentioned there have been no credible or detailed stories concerning the claims, whilst Trump and his allies use them to amplify racist stereotypes about Black and brown immigrants.

▶ Learn extra about Trump’s comments on Ohio immigrants

Taylor Swift, one of many music business’s greatest stars, endorsed Kamala Harris for president shortly after the debate ended on Tuesday night time.

“I feel she is a steady-handed, gifted chief and I consider we are able to accomplish a lot extra on this nation if we’re led by calm and never chaos,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post, which included a hyperlink to a voter registration web site.

Swift has a devoted following amongst younger ladies, a key demographic within the November election, and her newest tour has generated more than $1 billion in ticket gross sales. In a half hour, the publish acquired greater than 2.3 million likes.

She included an image of herself holding her cat Benjamin Button, and she or he signed the message “Childless Cat Girl.” The comment is a reference to three-year-old comments made by JD Vance, Donald Trump’s operating mate, about ladies with out kids not having an equal stake within the nation’s future.

▶ Learn extra about Swift’s endorsement