Kamala Harris, Donald Trump clash over China, tariffs in US presidential debate – as it happened
The vice-president and former president’s first debate saw them spar over a number of key issues including immigration, abortion and crime
US Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, the Republicans’ presidential nominee, clashed over a number of key issues, including China, as they sparred for the first time during a 90-minute presidential debate.
In Pennsylvania, they argued over several points such as tariffs and trade wars. Harris accused Trump of “inviting trade wars” and said Trump sold American chips to China to help it “improve and modernise their military”. The vice-president also slammed Trump for a social media post that said: “Thank you, President Xi” over the Chinese president’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Trump claimed China, Russia and North Korea feared him during his time in office, citing a statement from Hungary’s prime minister. “The most respected and most feared person was Donald Trump,” Trump claimed Viktor Orban said.
Harris and Trump also discussed the Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict. When asked about Israel and Hamas, Trump said Harris “hates” Israel and that under her leadership, “Israel will not exist.” This remark came after Harris highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Gaza resulting from Israel’s military actions. Harris said “Israel has a right to defend itself”, adding that “how it does so matters, because it is also true [that] far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed – children, mothers”. The presidential nominees also debated many hot button domestic issues like abortion, immigration, fracking and crime.
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Reporting by Khushboo Razdan, Mark Magnier and Robert Delaney
