US Presidential Elections 2024: Debate Between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in Philadelphia Comes to an End, From Ex-President’s Mystery Health Plan to Vice President Claiming She Owns Gun; Check Details Here

Philadelphia, September 11: The first, and possibly only, debate between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the 2024 election has come to an end. Tuesday's event in Philadelphia gave Americans their most detailed look at a campaign that's dramatically changed since the last debate in June.

In rapid fashion, President Joe Biden bowed out of the race after his disastrous performance, Trump survived an assassination attempt and both sides chose their running mates. It's the only debate that's been firmly scheduled and could be the only time voters see Harris and Trump go head-to-head before the November general election. US Presidential Elections 2024: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Meet for First Time As High-Stakes Presidential Debate Begins.

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Closing arguments Harris and Trump veered in different directions in their closing arguments. The vice president promised that she was focused on the future while Trump was stuck in the past. She emphasized that she has plans to help the middle class.

Trump criticized Harris for not implementing her plans while she's in office.

“Why hasn't she done it?” he said repeatedly. The 90-minute debate is going longer than advertised. The debate had been advertised as 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks. But it was always possible that ABC News might go longer. That's exactly what's happening. US Presidential Debate 2024 Live Streaming: Watch Video Telecast As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Face Off in 90-Minute Encounter in Pennsylvania.

Harris Says She is a Gun Owner

As she tried to refute Trump's accusation that she wants to take away owners' guns, Harris revealed that she is a gun owner, too.

“Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We're not taking anybody's guns away,” she said. Harris first revealed the news in 2019: “I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do — for personal safety,” Harris told reporters in Iowa. “I was a career prosecutor.”

The Affordable Care Act Has Gotten More Popular in Polling

One challenge for Trump's attacks on the ACA: It's gotten a lot more popular since it was passed in 2010. A KFF Health Tracking Poll found earlier this year that 62% of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of the Affordable Care Act, up from 46% in 2010. More broadly, recent AP-NORC polling gives Harris more of an advantage on the issue of health care. Americans trust her over Trump to better handle health care, 46% to 31%. About 2 in 10 say they trust neither (13%) or both equally (9%).

Trump's Mystery Healthcare Plan

For years, Trump has been promising a better healthcare plan than the Affordable Care Act. Asked again during the debate, Trump was unable to explain what he would do on healthcare. “I have concepts of a plan,” he said. “I'm not president right now.” He said he would reveal the plan “in the not-so-distant future,” something he's promised before.

Trump again questions Harris' race but says he doesn't care about it

Trump again questioned Harris' racial identity but then repeatedly said that he “does not care” how she identifies. “I read where she was not Black, ... and then I read that she was Black,” Trump said. “I couldn't care less. Whatever she wants to be is okay with me.” Harris called it a “tragedy” that Trump, she argued, “has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people.”

When They Go Low...

Harris has done something a lot of advisers wanted her to do tonight: She has identified herself as someone who uplifts and Trump as someone who weighs down. She criticized Trump for “belittling” and “name-calling” and said she will instead bring a “sense of optimism” as president. At the same time, Harris hasn't shied away from hitting Trump with direct, cutting attacks, both on his actions as president and on his false claims about her record.

Harris notes that Trump called for executing the now-exonerated “Central Park Five” Harris said Trump has a long history of racial division, going back to when his family's company was investigated for refusing to rent to Black people decades ago.

She also mentioned that he called for the death penalty for the “Central Park Five,” who were falsely accused of rape, and spread false “birther” theories about President Barack Obama. “I think the American people want better than that, want better than this,” Harris said New York City Council Member Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated group of men known as the Central Park Five, will be speaking to journalists after the debate ends.

Trump Has To Be Careful With His Personal Attacks on Harris

Trump has to be careful with his personal attacks on HarrisTrump has a fine line to walk on personal attacks on Harris tonight. A Pew Research Center poll found that about two-thirds of voters say Trump has been “too personally critical” of Harris. Slightly fewer than half (45%) of voters say Harris has been too personally critical of Trump. Trump's supporters are more likely to say he's too critical of Harris (41% of Trump's supporters say this) than Harris' supporters are to say she's too critical of Trump (12% of Harris supporters say this).

Over Time

Both candidates have gone over their allotted time several times during their answers and responses, with Trump ignoring the time clock far more than Harris. At one point as the debate approached a commercial break around the one-hour mark and as Trump continued to talk about Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, moderator Linsey Davis cut off Trump with, “President Trump, thank you. We have a lot of issues to get to.”

No Audience Means No Waiting for Them To Quiet Down

Anyone who's watched a lot of presidential debates knows that a chunk of time is spent quieting down the crowd in between answers. But no audience being present means that Harris and Trump are likely getting in more speaking time to the questions posed by the ABC News moderators - and reacting to their opponent's responses. As was the case with Trump's June debate with Biden, rules dictate that there is no live audience present for his debate with Harris.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)