3 key takeaways from the 2024 presidential debate

WASHINGTON - Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage for their first – and possibly only – debate Tuesday night. 

It was a critical moment in an unconventional election season as Harris worked to make her case to the many voters who only know her as a face within the Biden administration. 

In contrast, Donald Trump, whose policies are known among even the most disinterested voters, had much less to prove coming off his debate victory over President Joe Biden. 

Tuesday night's debate began with what could be considered a power move by Harris as she marched across the stage to shake Trump’s hand behind his lectern. 

For the next 90 minutes, Harris baited Trump with comments on his economic policy that she said would provide tax cuts to billionaires, his refusal to accept his loss in the 2020 election and his standing within the international arena. 

Trump, for his part, took aim at the Biden administration's failures at the Southern border. He equated Harris with President Joe Biden, saying, "She is Biden" and also fired back on the Biden administration’s handling of the economy as Americans remain frustrated by inflation. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the debate: 

Harris lays out economic plan

This debate served as a moment for Kamala Harris to step out from under the shadow of the Biden administration and let voters know what platform she's running on. 

"I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people, and that’s why I have a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy," Harris said.

Many independent and uncommitted voters have been waiting to hear more about what Harris plans to do should she take the White House. 

She started by laying out an agenda to help families and small businesses. 

"I intend on extending a tax cut for those families of $6,000, which is the largest child tax credit that we have given in a long time. So that those young families can afford to buy a crib, buy a car seat, buy clothes for their children," Harris said.

"My plan is to give a $50,000 tax deduction to start-up small businesses, knowing they are part of the backbone of America's economy," she continued. 

While Harris failed to answer the moderator's question at the start of the debate – "do you think Americans are better off than they were four years ago?-- she at least gave a glimpse into how she plans to help a frustrated middle-class.

Trump hits hard on border security

Trump circled back to hit on Harris' biggest weakness multiple times throughout the debate: the Southern border. 

"We have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums. And they're coming in and they're taking jobs that are occupied right now by African Americans and Hispanics and also unions," Trump said. 

It echoed his previous statements that sparked some controversy, particularly his statement that immigrants are taking "Black jobs." 

Trump continued to hammer Harris on the lack of progress at the border, years after Biden had appointed her to head up operations to stem the increasing flow of immigrants moving into the southern U.S. 

"They allowed criminals. Many, many, millions of criminals. They allowed terrorists. They allowed common street criminals. They allowed people to come in, drug dealers, to come into our country, and they're now in the United States," Trump said. "They've destroyed the fabric of our country."

The former president also hit on what he has termed "migrant crime."

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

Abortion remains key issue

One key issue that both candidates took firm stances on was abortion. 

Trump came out swinging against "radical" Democrats and repeated false claims about what he calls "late-term abortions," "after-birth abortions" and "execution after birth." He alleged that Harris’ vice presidential running mate Tim Walz, "says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine." 

He stuck to the point even after he was corrected by ABC moderator Linsey Davis.

He fiercely defended the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade that leaves laws on abortion up to the states. However, the former president skirted questions on whether he would veto a nationwide ban on abortion if it came to the Resolute Desk. 

"I'm not in favor of abortion ban but it doesn't matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states," he said. 

Harris presented an impassioned argument for women's reproductive rights and invoked personal stories of women's struggles to access reproductive care under new state laws implemented in the post-Roe era. 

"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," Harris said. "A 12 or 13-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term? They don't want that."

She also made an unexpected reach to Americans who oppose abortion based on religious beliefs, imploring them to consider it an issue of personal freedom. 

"One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government, and Donald Trump, certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body."