Harris, Trump detail their starkly different visions in a tense, high-stakes debate in Philly

While appearing in the spin room, Donald Trump said he believes he won Tuesday's presidential debate against Kamala Harris in Philadelphia. Full recap here: https://t.co/ElvKy77Eg6 pic.twitter.com/mQKTfbAV0X

— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) September 11, 2024

Donald Trump appeared in the spin room late Tuesday night following his debate against Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Trump said he believes he won the debate and spoke on the possibility of a second showdown against Harris.

“Well she wants a second debate because she lost tonight very badly,” Trump said. “They immediately called for a second debate because they lost. So we’ll think about that.”

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump squared off in a presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The showdown sparked both watch parties and debates in Philadelphia.

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.”

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,” she said.

Trump claimed that under the Biden administration, “they had the highest inflation perhaps in the history of our country, because I’ve never seen a worse period of time.”

But in fact, inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, but it was much higher in the 1970s and early 1980s. Inflation reached a record high of 14.6% in March and April of 1980.

Trump’s claim of millions dead in the Russian invasion of Ukraine is greatly exaggerated. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that as of early this year, it had verified more than 10,500 civilian deaths since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Trump repeats his frequent boast he would have a peace done between Ukraine and Russia within a day if he is elected. But he doesn’t say how.

The fear of supporters of Ukraine is that the kind of deal Trump is talking about would amount to Ukraine’s U.S.-backed, democratic government capitulating to the harsh demands of its larger neighbor. Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted Ukraine must give up vast amounts of territory and give up on joining NATO. That’s simply as a condition to start talks to end Russia’s 2 1/2 year invasion of Ukraine.

Trump says he was speaking sarcastically when he acknowledged recently that he did indeed lose the 2020 election.

“I said that?” Trump says when presented with his comment from a recent interview with Lex Friedman that he had lost “by a whisker.” He said the same thing at a Moms for Liberty event without a hint that he was joking.

Trump has spent years refusing to accept his loss, even though there is no evidence of the fraud that he insists took place.

“That was said sarcastically,” he says. “I don’t acknowledge that at all.”

Donald Trump is repeating his false claim that he beat President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, saying “there’s so much proof. All you have to do is look at it.”

The election was not stolen. The authorities who have reviewed the election — including Trump’s own attorney general — have concluded the election was fair.

Trump described Harris as the “border czar.” It’s a tactic he and Republicans have used to link Harris with an issue they know is important to voters.

But that was never her formal title, and she was never specifically given the responsibility for security on the border. She was tasked by Biden in March 2021 to tackle the “root causes” of migration from the Northern Triangle — the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador — and pushing leaders there and in Mexico to enforce immigration laws.

Supporters say she used her stature and connection to the White House to encourage investments in those countries as a way to curb migration in the future. But critics say she could have done more and that there’s no evidence Harris pushed those countries to enforce their immigration laws.

David Muir twice asked Trump whether he regretted anything he did on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump twice declined to say he did anything wrong.

“I had nothing to do with that,” he said. Trump made the same kinds of denials in his June debate with Biden. But the 81-year-old president’s disastrous performance overshadowed the former president’s answers. That likely won’t happen this time.

In the leadup to the debate, Harris’ and Trump’s camps battled over whether the candidates’ mics should be muted when they weren’t speaking.

But both Trump and Harris could be heard speaking over each other at least a few times in the first half of the debate.

When Harris said Biden didn’t have a plan for middle-class Americans, Trump could be heard punching back: “That’s just a soundbite. They gave her that to say.”

A few minutes later as Trump grumbled that the U.S. barely makes semi-conductor chips, Harris clapped back, “That’s not true.”

At another point, Trump tried to hush Harris as she tried to interject with a steely, “I’m talking now.”

Harris went straight at Trump over his rallies, an apparent effort to goad the Republican over events that he has long considered a particular point of pride and demonstrations of his support.

The Democrat mocked the rallies as forums for outlandish rhetoric, where fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter of “The Silence of the Lambs” are mentioned and dubious claims like windmills as a cause of cancer are advanced.

She said people leave early out of boredom and exhaustion.

Analysts expect the vote margins to be tight in this fall’s general election, and Harris is touting her endorsements from Republicans, including former Trump administration officials.

“I think the choice is clear in this election,” she said.

Trump responded, “I fired most of those people,” adding, as he has frequently of the Biden-Harris administration, “They never fire anybody.”

At Tuesday’s debate, two former Trump administration officials, including former White House communications Anthony Scaramucci, are appearing as Harris’ guests.

The main government watchdog and most independent assessments agree Trump and Biden share the biggest share of the blame for the disastrous end to America’s longest war, which saw the Taliban enemy sweep across all of Afghanistan before the last U.S. troops even flew out of the Kabul airport.

The main U.S. government watchdog for the war points to Trump’s 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw all U.S. forces and military contractors as “the single most important factor” in the August 2021 collapse of U.S.-allied Afghan security forces and the Taliban takeover.

Trump says he hasn’t spoken with his vice presidential pick, JD Vance, about whether he would sign a federal abortion ban—a ban Vance said Trump would veto if it were to land at his desk.

“Well I didn’t discuss it with JD,” Trump said as he was pressed on the issue.

Vance said last month that he could “absolutely commit that” Trump would oppose such a ban.

“Donald Trump’s view is that we want the individual states and their individual cultures and their unique political sensibilities to make these decisions because we don’t want to have a nonstop federal conflict over this issue,” Vance had said.

Trump, when pressed, said such a bill would never land at his desk, even though many Republican lawmakers continue to advocate for it.

Republican Donald Trump’s campaign and his allies are amplifying false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets.

More details here.

Trump slammed the Biden and Harris for failing to deliver on student loan forgiveness, one of their campaign promises. Some borrowers have gotten relief but parts of the plan have been hampered by Republican opposition and lawsuits.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court declined to lift an injunction that would have allowed one of the student loan forgiveness plans to be implemented.

Trump leaned on his catchall response to questions on abortion rights: saying the issue should be left up to the states.

In states allowing the citizen initiative and where abortion access has been on the ballot, voters have resoundingly affirmed the right to abortion. But voters don’t have a direct say in about half the states. In states that will have abortion on the ballot this year, anti-abortion groups and their Republican allies are using a wide array of strategies to counter proposed ballot initiatives.

Trump has repeatedly shifted his positions on abortion while boasting about appointing the three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion, unleashing a wave of restrictions on the procedure across Republican-led states.

Abortion is a central campaign issue in the 2024 presidential election as Trump seeks a more cautious stance on the issue, which has become a vulnerability for Republicans and has driven turnout for Democrats.

While praising the strength of the economy under his presidency, Donald Trump misstated the inflation rate under Biden, saying it was “probably the worst in our nation’s history.”

Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 after rising steadily in the first 17 months of Biden’s presidency from a low of 0.1% in May 2020, it’s now seeing a downward trend. The most recent data shows that as of July it had fallen to 2.9%.

Other historical periods have seen higher inflation, which hit more than 14 percent in 1980, according to the Federal Reserve.

Trump parroted common misinformation narratives about abortions later in pregnancy during Tuesday’s debate.

The former president has repeatedly made false claims about states allowing abortions after birth. This is false. Infanticide is criminalized in every state, and no state has passed a law that allows killing a baby after birth.

Abortion rights advocates say terms like this and “late-term abortions” attempt to stigmatize abortions later in pregnancy. Abortions later in pregnancy are exceedingly rare. In 2020, less than 1% of abortions in the United States were performed at or after 21 weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Abortions later in pregnancy also are usually the result of serious complications, such as fetal anomalies, that put the life of the woman or fetus at risk, medical experts say. In most cases, these are also wanted pregnancies, experts say.

Harris is leaning into her middle-class background and her plans to create an “opportunity economy” while lashing out at Trump as out of touch.

“Donald Trump has no plan for you. And when you look at his economic plan, it’s all about tax breaks for the richest people,” she says.

Trump for his part pushed back that Harris is an empty vessel when it comes to the economy. “She doesn’t have a plan. She copied Biden’s plan.”

Trump starts his debate appearance with his longstanding rhetoric on the dangers of immigration and claim that immigrants “are taking jobs that are occupied right now by African Americans and Hispanics and also unions.” That claim, which has sparked backlash in some communities of color, is seen with broad skepticism by economists.

“They are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings. They’re going in violently. These are the people that she and Biden let into our country,” Trump said, echoing conspiracy theories and his longstanding claims that immigrants are more violent than native born Americans, contradicting federal crime data.

Harris claimed that “economists have said that that Trump’s sales tax would actually result for middle class families in about $4,000 more a year.” She was referring to Trump’s proposal to impose a tariff of 10% to 20% on all imports — he has mentioned both figures — and up to 60% on imports from China.

Most economists do expect it would raise prices on many goods. The Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive advocacy group, has calculated that the higher tariffs would cost households an extra $3,900 a year. However, Trump has said the tariff revenue could be used to cut other taxes, which would reduce the overall cost of the policy.”

Harris has been viewing Trump with a somewhat skeptical look on her face, and she says she’s not expecting much truth from him during this debate.

Harris says she expects to hear “a bunch of lies, grievances and name calling” from her GOP opponent during their 90-minute debate.

Trump is again distancing himself from Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation project crafted by dozens of his former administration officials. “I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposefully. I’m not going to read it,” he says.

Democrats have made the deeply conservative proposals a centerpiece of their attacks against Trump.

With the White House under pressure on the economy, Harris said she was “raised as a middle class kid” and would be focused on creating an “opportunity economy.” She also sharply criticized Trump for policies that she said would increase costs for Americans.

Trump rejected the description, and he said he would focus on tariffs on imports from foreign countries. And he swiftly shifted focus to immigration, saying people were “pouring into the country.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump shook hands to kick off Tuesday’s debate at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center after Harris walked across the stage and extended her hand. It was uncertain whether the two candidates, who met for the first time onstage, would shake hands.

Ahead of the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, different groups looking to raise awareness for various causes gathered outside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to let their voices be heard.

Philadelphia police increased their presence in the area in anticipation of the expected protests on Tuesday. Some of the officers also had riot gear on hand as a precaution.

The different groups that gathered outside the center early Tuesday evening included advocates for women's reproductive rights as well as protesters of the Israel-Hamas War, Project 2025 and the opioid epidemic.

A group looking to raise awareness about access to contraception displayed a giant IUD balloon. Another group displayed art that showed tombstones of people who died in the opioid crisis. Another group of women dressed up as sharks and held up signs that stated, "Don't take a bite out of democracy," in reference to Project 2025.

The Kamala Harris campaign took to the skies over the Philadelphia Museum of Art at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, an hour before Harris takes the debate stage across town with former President Donald Trump.

"Tonight’s show will echo some of the popular messaging this campaign and grassroots supporters have latched onto since the start of Vice President Harris’ candidacy," the campaign said.

The 10-minute drone show featured pro-Harris messages as well as an image of Trump.

In conversation with NBC10 in Old City today, former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg spoke about Kamala Harris' strategy in tonight's debate against former President Donald Trump.

"Mainly, I think it's a chance to remind Americans that they agree with her on the issues that matter most, Buttigieg, who is the current U.S. Transportation Secretary, said while speaking in his personal capacity. "That the American people disagree with the Trump plan to cut taxes on the rich, they agree with her plan to give middle class families a break."

Buttigieg was a member of Harris' prep team ahead of her debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2020 -- a very different politician than Trump.

"I don't think a lot from last time will be useful this time," Buttigieg said, "other than that she will continue to draw a lot of strength from her convictions her values and her positions."

In addition to road closures and delays around the city, SEPTA has a number of service adjustments impacting buses along Market Street and the 5th Street Station on the Market-Frankford Line.

For a complete rundown, visit SEPTA.org.

There is little doubt on which candidate will win the heavily-Democratic city of Philadelphia in the presidential election, but voters here could still have an outsized impact on who ultimately wins statewide -- depending on turnout.

Turnout in Philly has stayed relatively flat in the last three elections after reaching a peak when President Barack Obama first ran in 2008.

But even small fluctuations in turnout in Pennsylvania's most-populous city could decide the ultimate outcome -- Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by just over 80,000 votes in 2020, while Donald Trump won the state by just over 44,000 in 2016.

NBC10 will spend debate night with Eugene Kiely, the director of FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group based at the University of Pennsylvania.

He shared with us a glimpse of his team's process as they prepare to fact check Tuesday night's presidential debate.

"Every day we're going through transcripts of what the candidates are saying," Kiely said. "There's claims back and forth about job creation. Both of the candidates will use different time frames or they'll make more of it than the record."

When the team sees a questionable claim, they'll go straight to the primary source.

"When we see a claim about unemployment, we're going to the Bureau of Labor Statistics," Kiely said as an example.

Here's the full list of rules:

- The debate will be 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.

- The two seated moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be the only people asking questions.

- A coin flip was held virtually on Tuesday, Sept. 3, to determine podium placement and order of closing statements; former President Donald Trump won the coin toss and chose to select the order of statements. The former president will offer the last closing statement, and Vice President Harris selected the right podium position on screen (stage left).

- Candidates will be introduced by the moderators.

Pennsylvania is of course a crucial battleground state in the 2024 election, and as of today, Democrats have an advantage of 350,000 more registered voters in the state compared with Republicans.

It's not that simple, though. That edge was more than twice as big in 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost the state. And there are more voters today that don't identify with either party.

NBC10 has coverage of tonight's presidential debate from all across the city. Here's what you can expect:

• Political reporter Lauren Mayk will be reporting live from the Pennsylvania Convention Center, home to the 'Spin Room', where campaign surrogates will make the case for their candidate after the debate.
• Frances Wang and Aaron Baskerville will be live along Independence Mall near the National Constitution Center, the site of tonight's debate.
• Investigative reporter Claudia Vargas will be in University City, watching the debate with an expert from FactCheck.org.
• Miguel Martinez-Valle spoke with both campaigns today on their outreach to Latino voters in Pennsylvania. He will be live at a nonpartisan debate watch party in Center City tonight.
• Delaware reporter Tim Furlong is covering that state's high-stakes primary elections today

We will be live streaming all evening, beginning with NBC10 News at 4 p.m. all the way through midnight right here on this page. You can catch the simulcast of the debate, hosted by ABC, streaming live in the player at the top of this page at 9 p.m. NBC10 coverage will continue before and after the debate.

Follow along on this page for live updates from our entire newsroom throughout the night.

Both campaigns in the race for president have ground operations targeting Latino voters in Eastern Pennsylvania counties. Last week, the Trump campaign allowed NBC10 into one of its more than 20 Pennsylvania field offices -- this one, in Reading, Berks County.

"Pennsylvania is one of the most important states for the election," said Daniel Campo, campaigning for Trump in Bethlehem. "The Latino for Trump campaign is one important group of the population and we want to demonstrate that for the Trump campaign and for Trump, especially, Latinos matter."

In Berks, Latinos make up 16 percent of eligible voters. President Joe Biden won the city of Reading with 46 percent of the vote in 2020 but Trump saw a 15 point gain with voters compared with 2016. The Harris campaign says they have 50 ground offices in the state, including in Lehigh County, where 20 percent of voters identify as Latino.

"Donald Trump is just building a last-minute operation," Maca Casado, a Harris campaign spokesperson, told NBC10. "We don’t take anything for granted and we understand that we have to work every single work every single Latino vote and that’s what we are doing.”

ABC News / Al Drago

ABC News, which is hosting tonight's debate, shared this photo of the debate stage inside of Philly's National Constitution Center.

There are dozens of watch parties at bars, restaurants, and other gathering spaces across the region for tonight's presidential debate in Philadelphia, but we've collected a few of the more "official" parties for you to consider.

A nonpartisan watch party will be hosted by the Committee of Seventy, the Philadelphia Citizen, and the League of Women Voters of Philadelphia at City Tap House on 18th Street in Center City.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker will be joined by other area Democrats at the Dell Music Center in Fairmount Park. Across town and about two blocks from the debate venue, the Philly Young Republicans will gather at the Hotel Monaco.

Jeffrey Rosen, the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Old City, sat down with NBC10's Lauren Mayk to discuss the selection of the venue as tonight's host.

"It's such an honor for the National Constitution Center to be selected as the location for the debate," Rosen told NBC10.

"There is no better location in the country than in Philadelphia, on Independence Mall, across from Independence Hall -- the room where it happened, where the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were drafted. It's so significant at this really important time for American history that this debate is taking place here and now."

Listen to the latest episode of Battleground Politics with Lauren Mayk on the prep work for Tuesday's presidential debate in Philly.

Philadelphia is preparing to host the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, but down I-95 in Delaware, voters are set to decide the nominees for several political contests,

The contest for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination pits the sitting lieutenant governor against the chief executive of the state’s most populous county. Dems also are voting in a U.S. House race where the favored candidate if elected would be the first openly transgender person in Congress.

Read the full story here.

The Ben Franklin Bridge is closed in the eastbound direction, heading from Philadelphia into New Jersey, ahead of tonight's Presidential Debate in Old City.

Traffic is not impacted westbound into Philadelphia at this time, although there is a possibility of further closures -- including the closure of the Vine Street Expressway in Philly -- later in the day.