Here are the key takeaways from the ABC presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

During their first and potentially only debate on Tuesday night, Kamala Harris relentlessly challenged Donald Trump for nearly the entire 1 hour and 45 minutes—something Trump engaged with fully. Harris, having thoroughly prepared, used nearly every response to provoke Trump. She accused him of being ridiculed by world leaders and disparaged by military officials, labeling him “weak” and “wrong.” She also reminded him that he was rejected by 81 million voters in 2020, the number who supported President Joe Biden. “Clearly, he’s having a very difficult time processing that,” Harris remarked. Trump's performance was often erratic. He loudly and persistently asserted numerous false claims, including widespread election fraud, a bizarre conspiracy theory about immigrants, and misleading assertions about Democrats endorsing post-birth abortions—a practice that is both illegal and unfounded. Trump painted a grim picture of the United States, echoing his previous “American carnage” rhetoric from his 2017 inauguration speech. “We have a nation that is dying,” Trump declared. As the debate concluded, Harris gained additional support when pop icon Taylor Swift endorsed the Democratic ticket on Instagram. Swift's post, signed “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady”—a nod to disparaging remarks made by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance—further bolstered Harris’s position.

A pivotal moment occurred when Harris took a dig at Trump regarding the size of his rally crowds.

Harris approached the debate with a clear strategy: to throw Trump off his game.

The plan proved highly effective. When Harris brought up Trump’s criminal convictions and ongoing legal troubles, he reacted strongly. Her critique of his failure to pass a bipartisan immigration bill provoked an even more intense response. And when she suggested that Trump’s rallies were dull, he almost took the bait entirely.

Instead of addressing the moderators’ questions, including those on topics Trump often touts as his strengths, the former president fixated on the appeal of his rallies, claimed that the Biden administration was targeting him unfairly, and launched into a bizarre and unfounded assertion that migrants were consuming Americans' pets.

“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump declared after Harris criticized his handling of immigration.

Harris appeared puzzled by Trump's outburst but chose not to engage with the claims, allowing Trump to continue his erratic responses.

Trump seemed particularly sensitive to Harris’s comments about his rallies. Even when Muir attempted to steer the debate back to immigration—one of Trump’s favored topics—Trump remained fixated on his rally size.

“First, let me respond to the rallies,” Trump said, mocking Harris’s crowds before praising his own. “People don’t leave my rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

The first hour of the debate concluded much as it began—with Trump diverging into a lengthy, narrow-focused rant about the 2020 election, which he falsely claimed was stolen from him.

Trump engages in conspiracy theories

Despite even his running mate’s signals to steer clear, Trump continued to propagate conspiracy theories during the debate.

He introduced a baseless conspiracy theory claiming that migrants from Haiti in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people's cats and dogs. Trump said, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of people who live there.”

When ABC News moderator David Muir pointed out that city officials had found no evidence to support this claim, Trump dismissed it, saying “the people on television” were reporting it. When pressed further, Trump simply replied, “We’ll find out.”

As the debate shifted to crime, Trump asserted that crime rates in the U.S. were rising compared to the rest of the world. Muir noted that FBI data showed a decline in crime over recent years. Trump responded by citing another conspiracy theory, alleging that the FBI is deeply corrupt and issuing “fraudulent statements,” calling it “a fraud.”

Later in the debate, Trump claimed that U.S. elections are “a mess” and alleged that Democrats are trying to get undocumented immigrants to vote.

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Intense debate over abortion, a crucial issue for both candidates

Few moments underscored the contrast between Biden’s June debate performance and Harris’ on Tuesday as vividly as the abortion debate.

Harris, a strong advocate for reproductive rights within the administration, effectively countered Trump’s defense of his abortion policy in a way that Biden had not. 

Trump, who appointed three Supreme Court justices responsible for overturning federal abortion protections, has tried to moderate his stance by criticizing six-week abortion bans and supporting exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Despite this, he has defended the overturning of Roe v. Wade, claiming, “Now it’s not tied up in the federal government. I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it.”

Trump echoed several arguments from his June debate with Biden, insisting that “everyone” wanted the issue returned to the states, despite substantial opposition from Democrats and some independents. He inaccurately referenced comments made by former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam about post-birth care for nonviable pregnancies, and repeated the false claim that some states permit abortions after birth, which was fact-checked by ABC News’ Linsey Davis.

“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” Davis stated.

In response, Harris emphasized real-world consequences, highlighting cases where women faced difficulties obtaining abortions after rape or struggled with miscarriage care. 

“You want to talk about what people wanted?” Harris said. “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’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot – she didn’t want that.”