Candidates engage in heated arguments during the ABC News presidential debate

By Madelyn Shelton

(Photo courtesy of SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Where do presidential candidates stand on the issues plaguing US citizens? On September 10th, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris gathered to discuss their positions on key issues such as immigration, health care, and the economy.

Immigration was one of the most stressed topics of the debate. One of Trump’s persistent arguments was the relationship between immigration and high crime rates. Trump claimed that migrants are driving up crime.

“Crime in this country is through the roof,” said Trump. “And we have a new form of crime. It's called migrant crime. And it's happening at levels that nobody thought possible.”

However, the 2024 FBI Crime Report shows that "...violent crime decreased by 15.2 percent. Murder decreased by 26.4 percent, rape decreased by 25.7 percent, robbery decreased by 17.8 percent, and aggravated assault decreased by 12.5 percent.”

On the other hand, Harris cited her time spent prosecuting criminals involved in the trafficking of drugs, guns, and humans. Rather than directly addressing her own immigration policies, she turned her attention to Trump.

“And let me say that the United States Congress, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Senate, came up with a border security bill which I supported,” said Harris. “...But you know what happened to that bill? Donald Trump got on the phone, called up some folks in Congress, and said, ‘Kill the bill’. And you know why? Because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”

Trump failed to respond to this statement and instead changed the subject. However, according to a fact check by ABC News’ Devin Dwyer, the sentiment is accurate. Trump encouraged Republicans to oppose the bill. Several members of Congress who helped create the bill and those who were originally in favor of it opposed the bill at Trump’s request.

On social media, Trump stated, “This Bill is a great gift to the Democrats and a Death Wish for The Republican Party. It takes the HORRIBLE JOB the Democrats have done on Immigration and the Border, absolves them, and puts it all squarely on the shoulders of Republicans.”

The two candidates also spoke about healthcare: specifically abortion. Trump stated that he supported abortion only under the conditions of rape, incest and risk of the mother’s life. Otherwise, he is against them. He specifically highlighted his distaste for late-term abortions

“But her (Kamala Harris) vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine,” said Trump “He (Tim Waltz) also says execution after birth, it's execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born, is okay.”

The ABC fact-checker responded by telling Trump that killing infants after birth is illegal in all 50 states. On social media, others claimed that Waltz allowed abortion clinics to kill infants after birth. A rumor circulated that five babies were killed in Minnesota under Waltz due to his “extremist” pro-choice stance.

According to 2WGRZ and Minnesota Department of Health Reports, no infants have been aborted after birth. However, social media users may have seen statistics about induced labor abortions and gotten confused. An induced labor abortion is performed when there is a safety risk for the mother. Ultimately, the infant dies in the birthing process.

Harris said she would sign a bill to put Roe v. Wade back in place. She also highlighted hypothetical stories of women and young girls who required abortions. These included women experiencing miscarriages and survivors of incest. Most of all, however, Harris focused her argument on attacking Trump.

“But understand, if Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban,” Harris said. “Understand in his Project 2025 there would be a national abortion ban.”

Trump’s Supreme Court Justices were responsible for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Trump has proudly supported these justices, but he states that he will never pass a national abortion ban. He might allow individual states to support bans, but he has claimed to never enforce a federal ban. Further, several of Trump’s close partners have supported Project 2025. Nevertheless, Trump denied any connection to the project.

The last major topic of the night was the economy. Candidates specifically argued over inflation and employment rates.

“We have inflation like very few people have ever seen before,” said Trump. “Probably the worst in our nation's history.”

According to ABC News fact-checkers and data gathered from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, or St. Louis Fed, the inflation rate at the beginning of Biden’s presidency was 9%. While this was very high, it was not the worst in the nation’s history. Additionally, inflation has dropped to 2.9% as of July 2024. However, contrary to many claims online, Biden’s high inflation rate was not inherited from Donald Trump. When Biden took office at the end of Trump’s presidency, the inflation rate was 1.4%.

“Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression,” said Kamala.

Unemployment rates at the end of Trump’s presidency were at 14.8% which is the highest since the Great Depression. However, the pandemic played a huge role in this. If you disregard the pandemic statistics, Trump’s lowest unemployment rate was 3.5%. Biden’s was 3.4%.

Both candidates occasionally made strong arguments. Nevertheless, there were other times when they went on tangents about personal character or other ramblings. Kamala did a wonderful job of composing herself, but many of her arguments were accusing Trump rather than stating her policies. Further, Trump could have made a few good points, but his argument got distracted and was therefore skewed.

Rumors have escalated about a third presidential debate, but the likelihood is unknown. Harris and her team have gone on record stating that “she is ready for another debate.” Trump seemed more reluctant but said he would think about it if it was on a different network.

The 2024 presidential election is Tuesday, November 5th. Alabama residents must be registered by October 21st to vote in the election. Check your voter status today. Not registered yet? Click the following link to register online: SOS Online Services (alabamainteractive.org) 

To watch the full debate, click the following preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgsC_aBquUE

(Video courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)