3-On-1 Presidential Debate: Trump vs Kamala and the Two ABC "Moderators"
A summary of the issues in Donald Trump's presidential debate against Kamala Harris and the two ABC (team democRata) ‘moderators’ David Muir and Linsey Davis who did not comment on a single one of the lies Kamala told that I would point out in their responses. The references for the lies are authored by Shawn Fleetwood.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Economics and Cost of Living
- Pacific Power Transfers and Civil Unrest
- Abortion and Reproductive Rights
- Immigration and Border Security
- War of Israel-Hamas and Hostages
- War in Ukraine
- Afghanistan
- Race and Identity
- Healthcare and Obamacare
- Climate Change
- Other Issues and More Lies from Harris
- Final Statements
The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump was an event where Kamala told many lies by making controversial claims and misleading statements that require further analysis.
David Muir: Welcome to the ABC News presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Tonight could be the most consequential event of their campaigns, with Election Day less than two months away.
Kamala Harris began by claiming that she grew up as a‘middle-class child’. However, this claim is questionable, as her father was a professor at Stanford University and her mother was a biomedical scientist at UC Berkeley, suggesting a more privileged background.
Harris also implied that the 2017 tax cuts of the Trump administration disproportionately benefited billionaires and corporations. However, IRS data has shown that, on average, all income brackets benefited substantially from tax reform, with workers and middle-income filers as the biggest beneficiaries.
Harris claimed that Trump would implement a ‘sales tax’, but Trump has not committed to doing such a thing if elected president.
Linsey Davis: Vice President Harris, do you think Americans are better off economically than they were four years ago?
This question wasn't answered by Kamala, apparently she had no idea how to answer it and these were her ramblings:
Kamala Harris: I was raised as a middle-class kid (lie, Harris's father was a professor at Stanford University, while her mother was a biomedical scientist at UC Berkley) and I have a plan to lift America's middle-class and working people. I propose an economy of opportunity, which includes:
- Extend a $6,000 tax cut for young families
- Giving a $50,000 tax deduction to emerging small businesses
- Addressing the housing shortage and its high costs
My opponent, on the other hand, plans a tax cut for billionaires and large corporations, which would increase the deficit by $1 trillion. My opponent on the other hand his plan is to do what he has done before, which is to provide a tax cut for billionaires and large corporations that will result in $1 trillion dollars to America. (Bullshit, data produced by the IRS has shown that ‘on average the biggest beneficiaries were workers and middle-income filers, not the top 1 percent,’ according to Justin Haskins, writing in The Hill). Harris went on to lie... my opponent has a plan I call the Trump sales tax that would be 20% on everyday goods... (Lie Trump has not committed to do such a thing if he is elected president.)
Donald Trump: First of all, I don't have a sales tax as she claims. We're putting tariffs on other countries that will eventually pay us back for everything we've done for the world. I created one of the best economies in the history of our country and I'm going to do it again, even better.
David Muir: We're going to get to immigration and border security during this debate. But I would like Vice President Harris to respond on the economy.
Kamala didn't answer on the economy and tries to pin the Covid pandemic, the events of 6 January and Project 2025 on Trump, which he falsely blames on the former president.
Kamala Harris: Well, I'd love to. Let's talk about what Donald Trump left us. Donald Trump left us with the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. Donald Trump left us the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. (Bullshit, contrary to Harris's claims, the events of J6 did not endanger American self-government or expose Americans to risks like those experienced during World War I, the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, or World War II, to name a few.)
And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump's mess. What we have done and what I intend to do is to build on what we know are the aspirations and the hopes of the American people. But I'm going to tell all of you that in this debate tonight, you're going to hear the same old, same old, same old, a bunch of lies, a bunch of aggravation, a bunch of insults. What you are going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends to implement if he were to be elected again. (Bullshit, Trump has repeatedly said he has nothing to do with Project 2025). I firmly believe that the American people want a president who understands the importance of coming together knowing that we have far more in common than what separates us. And I pledge to you that I will be a president for all Americans.
David Muir: President Trump, I'll give you a minute to respond.
Donald Trump: Number one, I have nothing to do, as you know, and as she knows better than anybody, I have nothing to do with Project 2025. That's out there. I haven't read it. I don't want to read it, by the way. I'm not going to read it. It's about a group of people who got together and came up with some ideas. I guess some good, some bad. But it makes no difference. I have nothing to do... everybody knows I'm an open book. Everybody knows what I'm going to do. Cut taxes substantially. And create a great economy like I did before. We had the best economy. We got hit by a pandemic. And the pandemic was, there hasn't been anything like it since 1917 when 100 million people died. We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic. We handed them a country where the economy and the stock market were higher than they were before the pandemic hit. Nobody had ever seen anything like it. We made fans for everybody. We got gowns. We got masks. We did things that nobody thought possible. And people give me credit for rebuilding the army. They give me credit for a lot of things. But not enough credit for the great work we did on the pandemic. But the only jobs they got were rebound jobs. They were rebound jobs. And it bounced back and it was to their benefit. But it was me who created them. They know it and everybody else knows it.
Harris claimed that the riots of 6 January 2021 were the ‘worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War’. This claim is questionable, considering other historical events such as Pearl Harbor or World War II.
Harris also claimed that Trump ‘incited’ the 6 January riots, but Trump specifically called on the protesters to ‘peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard.’
Harris claimed that ‘some’ police officers died as a result of the 6 January demonstrations, but this is false. For example, Officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes according to medical examiners.
Harris denied supporting efforts to rescue rioters following the death of George Floyd in 2020. However, in June 2020, Harris encouraged his supporters to donate to a bail fund for those arrested during the riots.
David Muir: President Trump, on January 6 you told your supporters to march on Capitol Hill. You said you would be there with them. The country and the world saw what happened on Capitol Hill that day. It was more than two hours before you sent that video message telling your supporters to go home. Does he regret anything he did that day?
In this question the supposedly totally biased moderator David Muir attacks Trump by practically blaming him for instigating the assault on the capitol.
Donald Trump: I said ‘peacefully and patriotically’ during my speech. Not later. Peacefully and patriotically. And no one on the other side was killed. Ashli Babbitt was shot by an out-of-control cop who should never have shot her. That is a disgrace. But I ask, what about all the people who come into our country and kill people? When are they going to be prosecuted?
Donald Trump: I had nothing to do with that, other than I was asked to give a speech. I showed up to give a speech. I said I'd like to give them 10,000 National Guard troops. I was turned down. Nancy Pelosi turned me down. It never would have happened if Nancy Pelosi and the mayor of Washington had done their job. I was not responsible for security. Nancy Pelosi was responsible. She didn't do her job.
Kamala Harris: I was on Capitol Hill on 6 January. On that day, the President of the United States incited a violent mob to attack our nation's Capitol. 140 law enforcement officers were injured and some were killed. The former president has been indicted and impeached for exactly that reason. But this is not an isolated situation. Remember Charlottesville, where there was a mob of people carrying tiki torches, spewing anti-Semitic hatred, and what did the president say then? There were good people on each side.
Donald Trump: What about the people who burned down Minneapolis or Seattle? They went into Seattle, they took over a large percentage of the city. When are they going to be prosecuted?
Kamala Harris: Donald Trump, the candidate, has said that in this election there will be a bloodbath if the outcome is not to his liking. Let's turn the page. Let's not go backward. Let's chart a course for the future and not go back to the past.
Donald Trump: It was a different term, and it was an energy-related term because they've destroyed our energy business. That was where the bloodbath was. Also, about Charlottesville, that story has been debunked. If you go one more sentence, you'll see that it was perfect.
In this question, the bias of supposed moderator David Muir in asking Kamala about the riots in Minneapolis and Seattle in contrast to the accusatory questions he asks Trump is reliably shown.
David Muir: Vice President Harris, how would you respond to concerns about the unrest in cities like Minneapolis and Seattle?
Kamala Harris: I understand the frustration that led to those events, but I cannot advocate violence or property destruction. We need to address the root causes of racial injustice and police brutality through meaningful reforms while keeping our communities safe. As a prosecutor, I know that we can have both public safety and justice. They are not mutually exclusive.
Donald Trump: She went out and raised money to get criminals out of jail who killed people and burned down Minneapolis. She did things that nobody would think of. This is a radical left-wing liberal.
She's a radical left-wing liberal.
When asked if she supports any restrictions on abortion, Harris dodged the question, stating that she ‘absolutely supports reinstating the protections of Roe v Wade’. However, he had previously pledged to sign laws that would codify abortion during the nine months of pregnancy.
Harris claimed that several states have ‘Trump abortion bans’ that criminalize doctors and nurses for providing healthcare. However, pro-life laws generally include exceptions to save the life of the mother and do not criminalize treatment for miscarriage or complications.
Harris also stated that ‘nowhere in the United States does a woman carry a pregnancy to term and ask for an abortion’. This is misleading, as CDC data show that thousands of abortions are performed after 21 weeks gestation.
David Muir: President Trump, you said you were proud to be the most pro-life president in American history. Then you said your administration would be great for women and their reproductive rights. Why should women trust you on this issue?
Donald Trump: What I did was something that for 52 years they were trying to do: give Roe v. Wade back to the states. Now the states are voting on this. I believe in rape, incest, and life of the mother exceptions. I did a great service in doing that, it took courage.
Kamala Harris: Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did exactly as he intended. Now, in more than 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans that criminalize abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. (Bullshit, life-saving laws designed to protect thousands of innocents each year from elective abortions do not criminalize treatment for miscarriage or complications. In fact, all current pro-life policies include exceptions for abortion when deemed necessary to save a pregnant woman's life. I promise that when Congress passes a bill to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law. But understand, if Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban. Understand that in his Project 2025, there would be a national abortion ban. (Bullshit, the Republican platform on abortion for 2024 explicitly states that decisions about ending life in the womb should be left ‘in the hands of the states’ and mentions nothing about appointing a national pro-life coordinator. The Republican presidential candidate has also vowed several times that he will not sign federal legislation restricting abortion). Understand that in his Project 2025, there would be a national abortion monitor that would monitor their pregnancies and abortions. I believe that the American people believe that certain freedoms, particularly the freedom to make decisions about one's own body, should not be taken away by the government.
Linsey Davis: Vice President Harris, I want to give you your time to respond. But I want to ask you if you would support any restriction on a woman's right to have an abortion.
This question highlights the bias of the ‘moderator’ where Harris blatantly lied in his answers and made false arguments that were accepted as truth by the totally biased moderators.
The ‘moderator's’ bias is highlighted by the fact that Harris blatantly lied in his answers and false arguments that were accepted as truth by the totally biased moderators.
Kamala Harris: She dodged the question and instead stated): I absolutely support reinstating Roe's protections against Wade. (She lied as Harris pledged to sign legislation such as the misnamed ‘Women's Health Protection Act,’ which would codify abortion during all nine months of pregnancy. In addition to her record of co-sponsoring the original version of that legislation, Harris also voted against protections for babies born alive after failed abortions). And as you rightly mentioned, nowhere in America does a woman carry a pregnancy to term and ask for an abortion. That doesn't happen. (Bullshit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that thousands of abortions are performed after 21 weeks gestation). ) It's insulting to the women of America. And understand what has been happening under Donald Trump's abortion bans. Couples who pray and dream of having a family are denied in vitro fertilization treatments. (Bullshit, Trump has openly promoted IVF and even promised to force taxpayers to fund it). What is happening in our country, hard working people, hard-working women who have one or two jobs, who can barely afford child care as it is, have to travel to another state to get on a plane sitting next to strangers, to go get the health care they need. She can barely afford it. And what they're putting her through is unconscionable. And the people of America don't -- most Americans believe in a woman's right to make decisions about her own body. And that's why in every state where this issue has been on the ballot, in both red states and blue states, the people of America have voted for freedom.
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Immigration and Border Security
Harris claimed that a congressional border bill proposed earlier this year would have curbed illegal immigration and fentanyl on the southern border. This claim is questionable, as the bipartisan measure would have enshrined the existing invasion in federal law.
Linsey Davis: Vice President Harris, why did the administration wait until 6 months before the election to act on illegal immigration and would it have done anything different from President Biden on this issue?
On this question to Kamala, biased moderators Muir and Davis, who repeatedly fact-checked Trump's answers during the debate on issues such as the Capitol riots and claims related to immigrant crime, did not fact-check Kamala's lies or require her to answer the specific question.
Kamala Harris: I am the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for trafficking in arms, drugs, and human beings. The US Congress, including some of the more conservative members of the Senate, drafted a border security bill that I supported. That bill would have put 1,500 more border agents on the border and allowed us to stop the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States. But Donald Trump phoned some people in Congress and said kill the bill. And you know why? Because he'd rather campaign on a problem than solve it.
Both moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir fact-checked Donald Trump several times during the debate and didn't fact-check Harris at all.
David Muir: Vice President Harris, how would you negotiate with Netanyahu and also with Hamas to free the hostages and prevent more innocent civilian deaths in Gaza?
Kamala Harris: Let's understand how we got here. On 7 October, Hamas, a terrorist organization, massacred 1,200 Israelis. I absolutely said then and I say now that Israel has a right to defend itself. But it is also true that too many innocent Palestinians have died. This war must end immediately. We need a ceasefire agreement and the hostages must come out. We must chart a course for a two-state solution.
David Muir: President Trump, how would you negotiate with Netanyahu and also with Hamas to get the hostages out and prevent the killing of more innocent civilians in Gaza?
Donald Trump: If I were president, this would never have started. If I were president, Russia would never have invaded Ukraine. I know Putin very well, I would never have done it. When she mentions Israel, all of a sudden she hates Israel. She wouldn't even meet with Netanyahu when she went to Congress to give a very important speech.
Harris misrepresented Trump's statements on NATO, claiming that he had told Russia it could ‘do whatever it wants’ on Ukraine. In reality, Trump was recounting an anecdote about pressuring NATO members to pay their defence spending obligations.
David Muir: President Trump, you've said you would resolve this war in 24 hours. How exactly would you do that and do you want Ukraine to win this war?
Donald Trump: If I were president, this would never have started. If I were president, Russia would never have invaded Ukraine and killed millions of people. When you mention Israel, all of a sudden she hates Israel. She wouldn't even meet with Netanyahu when she went to Congress to give a very important speech. If she's president, I think Israel won't exist in two years.
Donald Trump: I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being needlessly killed by the millions. We're at $250 billion or more because they're not asking Europe, which is a much bigger beneficiary, to do this. I know Zelensky very well and I know Putin very well. I have a good relationship and they respect me. They don't respect Biden.
How would you respect him, for what reason? He hasn't even made a phone call in two years to Putin.
David Muir: I want to know his views on support for Ukraine right now. But also, as commander-in-chief, if you were elected, how would you treat Vladimir Putin, and would it be different from what we're seeing from President Biden?
Kamala Harris: If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. And understand what that would mean. Because Putin's agenda is not limited to Ukraine. Understand why European allies and our NATO allies are so grateful that he is no longer president and that we understand the importance of the greatest military alliance the world has ever known, which is NATO. And what we have done to preserve the ability of Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to fight for their independence. Otherwise, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe. Starting with Poland. And why don't you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would cave in for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch.
Donald Trump: Quiet, please. He would have been sitting in Moscow a lot happier than he is now. But over time, you know, he has one thing that other people don't have. He has nuclear weapons. They never talk about that. He has nuclear weapons. Nobody thinks about that. And eventually, maybe he'll use them. Maybe he hasn't been that threatening. But it has that. Something we don't even like to talk about. Nobody likes to talk about it. But just so you understand, she was sent in to negotiate peace before this war started. Three days later she went in and the war started because everything they said was weak and stupid. They said the wrong things. That war should never have started. She was the emissary. She was sent to negotiate with Zelenskyy and Putin. And she did it and the war started three days later.
And that's the kind of talent we have with her. She's worse than Biden. In my opinion, I think he's the worst president in the history of our country. She's the worst vice president in the history of our country. But let me tell you something. She's a horrible negotiator. She was sent to negotiate. As soon as they left Putin did the invasion.
Kamala Harris: Let me remind the former president that he's not running against Joe Biden, he's running against me. I think the reason Donald Trump says this war would be over in 24 hours is because he would just give up, and that's not who we are as Americans.
Harris attempted to blame Trump for the Biden-Harris administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, a report by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee suggests that Biden's decision was based on his own opinion and not on the deal negotiated by Trump.
David Muir: Vice Chairwoman Harris, do you think you bear any responsibility for the way the Afghanistan withdrawal unfolded?
Kamala Harris: I agreed with President Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. Four presidents said they would do it and Joe Biden did it. As a result, American taxpayers are not paying the $300 million a day that we were paying for that endless war. But let's understand how we got to where we are. Donald Trump, when he was president, negotiated one of the weakest deals imaginable. Even his national security adviser said it was a weak and terrible agreement.
Donald Trump: If you look at that period, the Taliban were killing our soldiers, many of them with snipers. I got involved with the Taliban because the Taliban were doing the killing. For 18 months we didn't have anybody killed. We had a very good deal negotiated by Mike Pompeo. The reason it was good is that we were going to get out.
Harris repeated the debunked claim that Trump praised white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. In reality, Trump was referring to both sides of the debate over historic monuments.
David Muir: President Trump, you recently said about Vice President Harris, ‘I didn't know she was black until a few years ago when she turned out to be black and now she wants to be known as black.’ Why do you think it's appropriate to opine on your opponent's racial identity?
Donald Trump: I don't care. I don't care what it is. You make a big deal out of something I couldn't care less about. Whatever she wants to be is fine with me.
Kamala Harris: I think it's a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who consistently throughout his career has tried to use race to divide the American people. Let's remember how Donald Trump started: he owned land and buildings and was investigated because he refused to rent property to black families. This is the same individual who took out a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for the execution of five innocent black and Latino youths, the Central Park Five.
David Muir: President Trump, you have long promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. You have failed to do so. Now you say you're going to keep Obamacare ‘unless we can do something much better.’ Does he have a plan and can he tell us what it is?
Donald Trump: Obamacare was lousy health care, always was. It's not very good today. If we can create something and we're working on things, we're going to do it and we're going to replace it. But remember this, I inherited Obamacare because the Democrats wouldn't change it.
Kamala Harris: On the Affordable Care Act, understand, just look at history to know where people stand. When Donald Trump was president, 60 times he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. 60 times. I was a senator at the time and I will never forget the early morning hours when it came up for a vote in the United States Senate and the late great John McCain walked to the Senate floor and said, ‘No, you will not do it. You won't get rid of the Affordable Care Act."
Harris said he made it "very clear in 2020" that he would not ban fracking. However, during her campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, she made it clear: "There is no question that I am in favor of banning fracking."
Linsey Davis: Vice President Harris, you call climate change an existential threat. What would you do to combat climate change?
What would you do to combat climate change?
Kamala Harris: The former president had said that climate change is a hoax, and what we know is that it's very real. Ask anyone who lives in a state that has experienced these extreme weather events. As Vice President over the last four years, we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy while also increasing domestic gas production to historic levels. We've created more than 800,000 new manufacturing jobs.
Kamala Harris: Donald Trump said he was going to create manufacturing jobs. He's lost manufacturing jobs. And I'm also proud to have the support of the United Auto Workers and Shawn Fain, who also know that part of building a clean energy economy includes investing in American-made products, American cars. It includes growing what we can do around American manufacturing and opening auto plants, not shutting them down like what happened under Donald Trump.
Another of Harris's big lies accused Trump of closing auto plants (which was also unchallenged by moderators biased towards Kamala) one of her big lies mentioned by CNN from August 2019 in their Fact Check: Kamala Harris made a false claim about Trump and the loss of auto jobs caused by Trump.
When in fact there was an increase in autoworker jobs during Trump's presidency. there has been an increase in autoworker jobs during Trump's presidency
Donald Trump: That didn't happen under Donald Trump. Let me tell you, they lost 10,000 manufacturing jobs this last month. They're building massive auto plants in Mexico, in many cases owned by China. They're building these massive plants and they think they're going to sell their cars in the U.S.
They're building these massive plants and they think they're going to sell their cars in the United States.
Harris mischaracterized the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity, suggesting that Trump would be immune from any misconduct if he returned to the White House.
Harris claimed that autocratic world leaders support Trump, but Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly expressed his support for Harris's candidacy.
Harris claimed there are no US troops in combat zones, which is false. The US has troops in Syria and Iraq that are routinely attacked.
Harris denied supporting the seizure of U.S. troops in combat zones.
Harris denied supporting mandatory gun confiscation but has openly expressed support for such a policy in the past.
Harris claimed Trump is ‘weak and wrong on national security and foreign policy’, ignoring achievements such as the peace agreements between Israel and Arab states during his administration.
Kamala Harris: I think you have heard tonight two very different visions for our country. One that focuses on the future and the other that focuses on the past and an attempt to take us backward. But we are not going backward. I believe in what we can do together, which is about sustaining America's standing in the world and making sure that we have the respect that we deserve, including respecting our military and making sure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world.
Donald Trump: She just started out saying she's going to do this, she's going to do that, 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 talk about. Why hasn't she done it? We are a failed nation. We are a nation that is in serious decline. We are being laughed at all over the world, all over the world they are laughing
🖋️Author Jose TaranoJosé Tarano is a technical producer, graphic designer, collaborator, and researcher at Patria de Martí ► and The CubanAmerican Voice ►. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in Telecommunications from José Antonio Echeverria Superior Polytechnic Institute (ISPJAE). In addition, he is the founder and director of Electronics JR Computer Design and Service ►, a computer and information technology services company. Originally from Santiago de las Vegas, Havana, Cuba, he currently resides in the United States.
