Trump-Harris debate updates: High-stakes showdown comes to end

That brings to end the first, and possibly the last presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. While Trump was fact-checked thrice during the debate, Harris attempted to distance herself from Joe Biden. Economy, illegal immigration, abortion, Israel-Hamas war and Russian invasion of Ukraine were the biggest talking points during the debate, which lasted well beyond 90 minutes. 

Responding to Harris's closing statement, Trump asked why she not doing any of these 'wonderful things' right now as the US VP. 

“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. They’ve had three and a half years to fix the border. They’ve had three and a half years to create jobs and all the things we talked about.”

The Republican leader concluded the debate by calling Biden and Harris the worst president and vice president in the history of the country.

“Two very different visions for our country [presented tonight]: One that is focused on the future, and one that is focused on the past — an attempt to take us backward," said Harris. 

“But we are not going back,” she added.

“I will be a president that will protect fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.”

“As a prosecutor, I never asked a victim or a witness ‘are you a Republican or a Democrat?’ The only thing I ever asked them is ‘are you Okay?' That’s the kind of President we need right now, someone who cares about you and is not putting themselves first."

"I just need to respond to a previous point that I've made very clear: My position on fracking and then this business about taking everyone's guns away," said Harris.

"Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We're not taking anybody's guns away," Harris vowed. "So stop with the continuous lying about this stuff." 

Quizzed if he had alternative to Obamacare, Trump responded saying he had 'concepts of a plan'. 

"I'm not President right now, but if we come up with something, I would only change it if we come up with something that's better and less expensive. And there are concepts and options," he said.

"I'm not Joe Biden. I'm not Donald Trump. What I do offer is new generation of leadership for our country," said Harris when Trump commented that "she hates Biden" and was trying to get away from the US president. 

"I agreed with President Biden's decision to pull out of Afghanistan," said Harris. 

"When he was president, [Trump] negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine. He calls himself a deal maker. Even his national security adviser said it was a weak, terrible deal," she added. 

Harris seemingly attempted to distance herself from President Joe Biden during the debate.

“You’re not running against Joe Biden, you’re running against me," Harris told Trump.

Quizzed about whether he's rooting for Ukraine to win its war against Russia, Trump said he wanted the war to stop. 

"I want the war to stop. I want to save lives," Trump said. "People are being killed. It is so much worse than the numbers that you're getting."

"I know Zelensky very well and I know Putin very well. I have a good relationship, and they respect your president — OK? They respect me."

"It is well known that he admires dictators, wants to be a dictator on Day One, according to himself," said Harris. 

"It is absolutely well known that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again because they're so clear they can manipulate you with flattery and favors," she added.

"Where is our president, they threw him like a dog," said Trump during the debate as Biden faces heat for taking extended leaves. 

"We have a president who doesn't know he's alive."

Responding to Harris, Trump said Putin endorsed her last week and meant it, adding that the Russian president had gotten away with a lot of things under the Biden administration. 

"She hates Israel. If she becomes president, Israel will not exist in two year's time and I have been good with predictions," said Trump. 

Trump added that Harris avoided meeting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu when he came to the US and instead was involved in a 'sorority party'. 

"I would say we would both leave this debate right now. I'd like to see her go down to Washington, DC during this debate, because we're wasting a lot of time," Trump said.

"They don't need bills. They have the right to do [it]," he added. "Get [President Biden] out of bed at 4 pm...I'll wake him up."

Cornered about January 6 insurrection attempt, Trump turned the question on Harris by asking why no action was taken against anyone involved in the summer 2020 riots.

'When are those people going to be prosecuted?" he asked. "When are the people that burned down Minneapolis going to be prosecuted, or in Seattle?"

Trump called out Harris as she attempted to interrupt him by using her technique. 

"I'm talking now, if you don't mind," Trump said mid-sentence as Harris spoke with a muted microphone. "Please. Does that sound familiar?"

During the debate against Mike Pence in 2020, Harris claimed she was being interrupted and said, "Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking."

"I had nothing to do with that," said Trump when quizzed if he regretted his actions on January 6, 2020. 

"Nancy Pelosi was responsible. If she had done her job, it wouldn't have happened." 

“You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter, he will talk about windmills cause cancer and what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you. You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams and your desires,” Harris said.

Trump said the multiple sets of criminal charges against him were politically driven by Democrats. 

“They weaponised the Justice Department… They’re the ones that made them go after me,” he said.

"She is destroying this country. We will become Venezuela on steroids if she becomes president," Trump said regarding illegal immigration. 

“You see what’s happening with towns throughout the United States. You look at Springfield, Ohio," Trump said while speaking about immigration. 

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that come in, they're eating the cats," Trump added. 

The moderators responded: "You bring up Springfield, Ohio, and ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."

"The people on television [were] saying, 'my dog was taken and used for food,'" Trump responded.

Quizzed about the moderators about whether she'd back any restrictions on abortion access, Harris said: "I absolutely support reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade."

"Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion — that is not happening," she added. 

Trump then asked Harris whether she would allow abortions in the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy. She did not answer that question.

"You want to talk about this is what people wanted. Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she is bleeding out in a car in the parking lot," Harris said.

"She didn't want that. Her husband didn't want that. A 12 or 13 year old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term — they don't want that," she added.

Harris said Trump will take away the rights of women in the US to seek an abortion. 

"Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the Supreme Court with the intention that they would overturn Roe V. Wade," said Harris. 

"I am not signing a ban. States are voting and it may take a little time," Trump responded. 

"Democrats are radical in that, her VP pitch - execution after birth is okay, that's not okay for me."

Trump continues with the personal attacks by claiming that Harris' campaign did not have a policy and that her father was a marxist professor. 

"But I'm going to tell you all in this debate tonight, you're going to hear from the same old tired playbook, a bunch of lies, grievances and and name-calling," Harris attacks Trump.

Trump responds to Harris' accusations that he has nothing to do with Project 2025 and that he is an open book. 

"I have nothing to do with project 2025... I'm not going to read it," Trump said.

“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump previously wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

"Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the great depression. What we have done is clean Donald Trump's mess," said Harris. 

Kamala Harris instantly tears into Donald Trump by claiming that the latter would impose sales tax, which is promptly refuted by the Republican leader. 

"First of all, I have no sales tax. That's an incorrect statement. She knows that we're doing tariffs on other countries. Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back," Trump shot back.

Tuesday (Sep 10) night could potentially be the make-or-break opportunity for Harris as 28 per cent of likely voters said they still need to know more about the vice president, compared to nine per cent wanting to know more about Trump. 

Former US president Donald Trump is leading Democrat rival, Kamala Harris, in the homestretch of the presidential campaign, a national poll of likely voters by The New York Times and Siena College has shown. 

Trump is leading Harris by a 48–47 margin, which puts him right back where he was when President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid.

The candidates' mics will be on only when it is their turn to speak and will be muted otherwise. The questions will only be asked by the moderators and will not be shared with the candidates priorly.

Both the candidates will be given a pen, pad of paper and water bottle with no props and pre-written notes allowed. They will stand behind their podiums throughout the debate. 

The debate, telecast on ABC News is scheduled to last for 90 minutes and will be held without a live audience. 

Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor is expected to corner Donald Trump regarding his court cases while the Republican may chide her over border handling which has allowed undocumented migrants to enter the US. 

Republican candidate Donald Trump is set to face his Democrat rival Kamala Harris for the first time ever on Tuesday (Sep 10) during the presidential debate at 9 PM ET (0100 GMT) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.