An Analysis of the 2024 Presidential Debate – The Arbiter

On September 10, 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took the debate stage at the National Constitution Center. Moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis asked the candidates a range of questions, ranging from the economy to bodily autonomy.

This article will outline each candidate’s plans on the most important issues facing the American people today, and will also check for misinformation.

Economy

Muir began by asking Vice President Harris if she believed Americans “are better off than they were four years ago?” Harris began her answer by diving into an anecdote about growing up in a middle-class family and shared her vision for an “opportunity economy.”

Harris explained that if elected, she would offer tax cuts to families of $6,000. Harris then discussed what she has dubbed the “Trump sales tax,” which she describes as a tax cut that only benefits the wealthy.

Former President Trump responded by immediately denying the concept of a “Trump sales tax,” saying, “That’s a false statement. She knows that. We’re putting tariffs on other countries. Other countries are finally going to pay us back, after 75 years, for everything we’ve done for the world.”

CBS called Harris’ statement “partly true,” writing that Trump has called for a 10% tariff on imported goods and a 60% tariff on Chinese imports. The article explained that according to the Center for American Progress Action, “a 20% tariff on most imports, combined with a 60% tax on Chinese goods, would amount to a tax increase of about $3,900 a year for middle-income families.”

Trump went on to say that the current level of inflation in America is “probably the worst in the history of our country.” This is incorrect. Forbes reported that while inflation peaked at a “four-decade high of 9.1% in June 2022, it rose to more than 14% in the 1980s, 11.1% in 1974, 10.9% in 1942 and 17.8% in 1917.”

Kamala Harris responded that the unemployment rate under Trump’s presidency was the worst since the Great Depression. That’s true. AP News reported that Trump’s unemployment rate of 14.7% was comparable to the unemployment rate under Roosevelt’s presidency during the Great Depression.

Harris brought up Project 2025, which Trump subsequently claimed he had nothing to do with, saying that while he had “not read” it, it contained ideas — “some good, some bad.”

Abortion

Moderator Linsey Davis began with an overview of what each candidate has accomplished or stated in the past regarding abortion. Davis reiterated Trump’s removal of Roe V. Wade, a law that previously allowed an individual to seek an abortion anywhere in the U.S., but noted that he had said the month before that his candidacy would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.”

Trump began his answer by responding to Davis’ question about his vote in Florida, saying he would initially vote no on the abortion ban, but went on to say, “I’m going to vote that we need more than six weeks.”

In response to these questions, Trump made several false claims. First, Trump said he supported the Florida ban because “they’re having abortions in the ninth month,” and that the previous governor of West Virginia said, “The baby will be born and we’ll decide what to do with the baby. In other words, we’ll execute the baby.”

NBC noted that the CDC reports that less than 1 percent of late-term abortions are abortions. Davis immediately debunked Trump’s claim that babies are being “executed” in real time after birth.

In an interview, former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam answered a question about a policy that requires late-stage abortions to be performed in a hospital after three doctors have given their approval.

NBC quoted the interview as saying: “When we talk about third-trimester abortions, they are done with the consent of the mother and the physician, and they are done in cases where there may be severe malformations, or a fetus that is not viable,” Northam said.

Trump also said he believes in exceptions when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. According to the Keiser Family Foundation, rape is not an exception in 10 of the 21 states with abortion bans.

If elected, Harris would reinstate Roe v. Wade, calling the abortion ban “insulting to women.”

Trump did not answer a question about whether he would veto a nationwide ban on abortion if elected.

Immigration and border security

Harris began by referencing the various “transnational criminal organizations” she has prosecuted during her time as a district attorney for several California cities and discussed her support for a border security bill that would have added 1,500 additional agents to the border. Harris also said that this increase in security would have “reduced the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States.”

Harris then invited debate viewers to attend a Trump rally, saying he “will not talk about your needs, your dreams, your desires.”

In his call for a response from former President Trump, Muir asked why he repealed the border security law that Trump started, in response to Harris’s call for viewers to attend his rally.

Trump spent much of his response describing the low turnout at Harris’ rallies, claiming that Harris was “busing people in.”

In what has become a much-quoted line from the Internet debate, Trump claimed that we are headed for World War III because of current immigration policies. He falsely claimed that in Springfield, Ohio, immigrants “eat the pets of the people who live there.”

Muir debunked this claim in real time, saying that the city manager of Springfield, Ohio, said, “There have been no credible reports of specific allegations of pets being abused … within the immigrant community.”

Muir then asked Trump about his immigration policy, which he called “the largest internal deportation in the history of our country.”

Trump did not answer the question directly, but instead cited the high rates in other countries as his reasoning behind the plan, calling undocumented immigrants “criminals,” “terrorists” and “drug dealers.”

Muir noted that crime in America is actually declining.

Harris said she found Trump’s allegations “so valid” given that Trump has been prosecuted and is currently awaiting a court appearance in November.

Harris answered Muir’s questions about how her “policy positions changed” on fracking, assault weapons and border crossings.

She then raised the issue of the housing crisis, saying she had a plan, but she didn’t go into details at the time. Harris later explained that she would create 3 million homes by the end of her first term.

Harris began by saying that her “values ​​haven’t changed” and stated that she wants to “protect women and children from violent crime” and “seniors from scams.” Harris did not address the assault weapons aspect of the question in this response, but later stated that she and Walz are both gun owners and “don’t take anyone’s guns away.”

Muir asked Trump if he regretted the events that took place on January 6, 2020. Trump made no comment and instead began talking about what a “lousy job” the Biden administration has done with border security and said he “had nothing to do with that.”

Trump refused to admit he lost the election, which is not true. He did lose the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

Gaza

When Muir asked her about her reaction to the “Israeli war and the hostages that are still being held” and the “40,000 Palestinians (who) are dead,” Harris began by summarizing the events that had occurred.

“What we know is that this war must end,” Harris said as she called for a ceasefire. She mentioned a two-state solution but did not go into details of how that would be achieved. However, she did say that the deal “must rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have the security, self-determination and dignity that they so rightly deserve.”

In Trump’s response, he claimed that if he were president, the whole situation wouldn’t have happened. Trump went on to describe his relationship with Putin, whom he said he “knows very well,” and said that if he were president, Putin would never have invaded Ukraine. Trump said he would handle both situations “quickly and properly,” without providing details or plans on how.

Health care

Former President Trump stated that he has “drafts of a plan” regarding future health care plans and that Obamacare was “lousy.”

Harris said she will “maintain and expand” the Affordable Care Act and said “access to health care should be a right, not just a privilege of those who can afford it.”

Fracking

Harris’ position on fracking was unclear during the debate. While she claimed to be pro-fracking on the debate stage, she said in 2019 that she did not support it.

Climate change

Harris began by stating that the former president had described climate change as “a hoax” – this is true.

She then said that a trillion dollars has been invested in “a clean energy economy” – which is true.

Conclusion

While this article is not all-inclusive, it provides a snapshot of what was discussed during the 2024 presidential debate and sheds light on issues that were described vaguely or outright inaccurately.