On September 11, 2024, current Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met in person for the first time during the first and only debate for the 2024 Presidential Election.

During the debate they shared their contrasting visions for the future, discussing various topics including reproductive rights, immigration policies, the economy, and social issues.
Trump repeatedly referred to the United States as a “failing nation” and close to “World War III,” blaming the Biden-Harris Administration. Meanwhile, Harris constantly called out Trump for making false claims and called out his record on issues like reproductive rights, health care, and election interference.

Fierce Start

The fiery debate began with a handshake and quickly dived into a flurry of harsh exchanges, Harris differs herself from Trump by calling herself a “middle-class kid.” Trump took a different approach, repeating false rumors of fraud in the 2020 election and speaking on the unproven conspiracy theories about immigrants eating pets, making the country appear to be in a state of turmoil.

The Eagle’s Eye newspaper asked Akins students and staff in a survey about their preferred candidate and their reasoning.

One senior said they preferred Harris because of her debate performance.

“When I watched the presidential debate, Harris seemed to know what points she wanted to make clear, while Trump kept changing the conversation in favor of talking about topics that weren’t a part of the debate.”

One freshman said they disliked both candidates.
“I dislike both candidates because it’s a two-party system, it makes it hard to find your own values and find a candidate that really represents you.”

Turning the Tables

The outcome of the Harris-Trump debate was a lot different than the debate between President Joe Biden and Trump, which occurred in June. Many viewers of the June debate said Biden seemed to show Biden stumbling over his words and failing to attack Trump effectively.

Biden’s poor debate performance triggered calls for him to drop out of the running after facing criticism from his colleagues.

This led to great anticipation of the Harris-Trump debate to see if she would be able to
turn the tables and portray Trump as the flawed one.

She used lines during the September debate that were aimed at getting under his skin.

“Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people,” Harris said during the debate. “Clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that.”

Harris previously served as a prosecutor and is known for her strategic debate skills. For example, she brought up during the debate that Trump was
convicted on 34 felony counts in a New York hush-money case. When Trump falsely blamed “migrant crime” for high-profile crimes reported by the media.
“I think it’s so rich,” Harris rebutted. “Coming from someone who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault and his next big court appearance is in November at his own criminal sentencing.”

Trump denies Project 2025 involvement

The candidates were asked about abortion, which is viewed as one of Trump’s major weaknesses after he appointed three U.S. Supreme Court justices that struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade case that had previously protected women’s rights to an abortion.

Trump attacked Harris, falsely stating, “(Democratic-led state) have an abortion in the 9th month. The democrats are radical.”

He said that abortion is an issue that’s “torn our country apart” and claims everyone got what they wanted. Harris then criticized Trump for appointing three Supreme Court Justices he knew would overturn Roe v. Wade.
“It is immoral. One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree with the government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” she said.

Harris claimed that Trump was planning to utilize Project 2025, a far-right conservative plan written by the Heritage Foundation, which would empower the executive branch to become more powerful. It’s nearly a 1,000-page plan that includes a far-right wish list of proposals, including enacting a national abortion ban. However, Trump denies any knowledge or support for the project.

“I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” he said. “I haven’t read it purposely. I’m not going to read it.”

When students at Akins High School asked what policies they would like to see be implemented a common topic was abortion. Commercial Photography teacher Lora Alainz said she believes that abortion should be legal.“A woman should be able to do what she wants with her body,” she wrote in her survey response.

Viewers Criticism

An important point of criticism from the last debate came from the public because the moderators weren’t providing real-time fact-checking. That changed in the latest debate, where ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis consistently fact-checked Trump’s claims, including false accusations about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Harris’ running mate, supporting “execution after birth” and Haitian migrants eating pets.

While some of the public praised Muir and Davis, conservatives and Trump allies were quick to call the debate a “3-v-1,” accusing the moderators of being biased.

According to The Eagle’s Eye survey, 72.2% of respondents said they believed that Harris won the debate, while 22.8% said they believed Trump won.