Democratic candidate Kamala Harris put her Republican rival, Donald Trump, on the defensive in a combative presidential debate on Tuesday with a stream of attacks on his fitness for office, his support of abortion restrictions, and his myriad legal woes. Mr Trump said it was his best debate.

A former prosecutor, Ms Harris, 59, controlled the debate from the start, repeatedly getting under her rival’s skin and prompting a visibly angry Mr Trump, 78, to deliver a series of falsehood-filled retorts.

At one point, she goaded the former president by saying that people often leave his campaign rallies early “out of exhaustion and boredom.”

Mr Trump, who has been frustrated by the size of Ms Harris’ crowds, said, “My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

He then pivoted to a false claim about immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, that has circulated on social media and was amplified by Mr Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance.

“They’re eating the dogs!” he said as Ms Harris laughed in disbelief.

“The people that came in, they’re eating the cats! They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Mr Trump said. 

“Talk about extreme,” Ms Harris replied.

Her plan had always been to goad Mr Trump into saying things that could become viral social media clips, as her advisers had said beforehand.

With eight weeks to go before the election and days until early voting starts in some states, the debate – the only one scheduled – offered a rare opportunity for both candidates to make their case for a television audience of tens of millions of voters.

The candidates clashed over immigration, foreign policy and healthcare, but the debate was light on specific policy details.

Wall Street remained on edge as the closely watched debate gave investors little clarity on key policy issues, even as betting markets swung in Ms Harris’ favour.

Instead, Ms Harris’ forceful approach succeeded in putting the focus on Mr Trump, leaving her allies jubilant and some Republicans acknowledging Mr Trump’s struggles.

Mr Trump repeated his false claim that his 2020 election defeat was due to fraud, called Ms Harris a “Marxist,” and asserted falsely that migrants have caused a violent crime spree.

“Trump missed an opportunity to stay focused prosecuting the case against Biden-Harris on the economy and border, and instead took her bait and chased down rabbit holes on election denialism and immigrants eating our pets,” said Marc Short.

Mr Short served as chief of staff for Mr Trump’s former Vice-President Mike Pence. 

In a boost to the Harris campaign, pop megastar Taylor Swift told her 283 million followers on Instagram immediately following the debate that she would back Ms Harris and her running mate Tim Walz in the November 5 election.

She signed it “childless cat lady,” a reference to controversial remarks made by Mr Vance.

Online prediction market PredictIt’s 2024 presidential general election market showed Mr Trump’s likelihood of victory declining during the debate to 47 per cent from 52 per cent. Ms Harris’ odds improved to 55 per cent from 53 per cent.

In a sign of confidence in the debate’s outcome, Ms Harris’ campaign challenged Mr Trump to a second round in October.

After, Mr Trump took the rare step of going into the nearby “spin room,” a job usually left to supporters, telling reporters, “This was my best debate.”

A group of undecided voters told Reuters they remained unconvinced she was the better candidate.

Asked about the Harris campaign seeking a second debate, Mr Trump told Fox News, “She wants it because she lost. I have to think about it, but if you won the debate, I sort of think maybe I shouldn’t do it. Why should I do another debate?”

Mr Trump, who spent weeks launching personal attacks on Ms Harris, including racist and sexist insults, largely avoided that pattern during the debate’s early moments but quickly became agitated under Ms Harris’ offensive.

Mr Trump was asked by the moderators about one of those attacks when he told an event with Black journalists in July that Ms Harris had recently “become a Black person.”

“I couldn’t care less,” he said. “Whatever she wants to be is OK with me.”

Ms Harris, who has both Black and South Asian heritage, responded, “I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be the president who has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people.”

She criticised Mr Trump over his criminal conviction for covering up hush money payments to a porn star as well as his other indictments and a civil judgment finding him liable for sexual assault.

Mr Trump denied wrongdoing and again accused Ms Harris and the Democrats of orchestrating all of the cases without evidence.

The debate got underway at 9:00 p.m. ET (0100 GMT on Wednesday) with a surprise handshake between the two opponents, who had never met before. 

Ms Harris approached Mr Trump at his lectern, introducing herself by name in what was the first handshake at a presidential debate since 2016. 

The encounter was particularly important for Ms Harris, with opinion polls showing that more than a quarter of likely voters feel they do not know enough about her. 

Ms Harris entered the race only seven weeks after President Joe Biden’s exit. She delivered a lengthy attack on abortion limits, speaking passionately about women denied emergency care and victims of incest unable to terminate their pregnancies due to statewide bans that have proliferated since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right in 2022.

Three Mr Trump’s appointees were in the majority of that ruling.

She also claimed Mr Trump would support a national ban. Mr Trump called that assertion untrue but declined to say explicitly that he would veto such a law.

Mr Trump, who has sometimes struggled with messaging on abortion, said falsely that Ms Harris and Democrats support infanticide, which – as ABC News moderator Linsey Davis noted – is illegal in every state.

Ms Harris also sought to tie Mr Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint that proposes expanding executive power, eliminating environmental regulations and making it illegal to ship abortion pills across state lines, among other right-wing goals.

Mr Trump retorted that he has “nothing to do” with Project 2025, though some of his advisers were involved in its creation.

Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist, said Mr Trump “didn’t do himself any favours” but added that it remains unclear whether Ms Harris’ performance will change the race’s dynamics.

Polls show a vast majority of Americans have made up their minds, leaving a small sliver of undecided voters up for grabs.

The candidates opened the debate by focusing on the economy, an issue that opinion polls show favours Mr Trump.

Ms Harris attacked Mr Trump’s intention to impose high tariffs on foreign goods – a proposal she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class – while touting her plan to offer tax benefits to families and small businesses.

Mr Trump criticised Ms Harris for the persistent inflation during the Biden administration’s term, though he overstated the level of price increases.

He said inflation “has been a disaster for people, for the middle class, for every class.”

The candidates also exchanged barbs over the Israel-Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, though neither offered specifics on how they would seek to end each conflict.

Ms Harris accused Mr Trump of being willing to abandon U.S. support for Ukraine to curry favour with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling Mr Trump a “disgrace,” while Mr Trump claimed Ms Harris “hates” Israel – an assertion she rejected.

Presidential debates do not necessarily change voters’ minds but can be deeply consequential. 

Mr Biden’s poor performance against Mr Trump in June led him to abandon his campaign on July 21.

In a contest that could again come down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states, even a small shift in public opinion could alter the outcome.

According to polling averages compiled by the New York Times, the two candidates are effectively tied in the seven battleground states likely to decide the election. 

(Reuters/NAN)