11 Important Takeaways From The Historic U.S. Presidential Debate

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

72% : Trump framed his presidency as one of unprecedented economic growth, boasting job creation and record stock market highs.
54% : Harris strongly positioned herself as an advocate for climate action and promised to continue expanding renewable energy and reducing America's dependence on fossil fuels.
52% : Trump claimed he could have ended the war between Russia and Ukraine before it began, positioning himself as a proficient leader who commands respect from adversaries like Vladimir Putin.
51% : In the first few minutes of her speech, Harris focused on the middle class, young families, and small businesses, pushing her bold "opportunity economy" plan by offering tax breaks for small businesses and a $6,000 tax cut for growing families.
51% : Trump also painted Harris as an advocate for Marxism, warning viewers that her economic plans would stifle economic growth.
47% : Since the debate, political analysts have continued to dissect the two contenders' strategy, responses and optics on the debate stage, with some arguing that both candidates did not answer certain questions around economy, immigration and policy as closely as they should have.
46% : Like other raised issues, Trump and Harris offered different views on the state of the American economy.
32% : Trump distanced himself from the project during the debate, insisting that it was not part of his campaign strategy, despite speculation about his alignment with its goals.
27% : The issue of race was brought up when Muir asked Trump about his comments on Harris' race.
27% : Apart from seemingly sidestepping questions about the January 6th riots, Trump also denied any association with Project 2025, a policy agenda outlined by the Heritage Foundation to take over the federal government.
23% : Trump was also challenged for his controversial and misleading comments about winning the 2020 election.
23% : In a particularly impassioned moment, Trump began to passionately speak about the harm that undocumented immigrants were causing, citing that immigrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, a claim that moderator David Muir quickly challenged.
20% : During the debate, Trump repeatedly zeroed in on immigration, noting it as a core issue of American national security and patriotism.
20% : During the debate, David Muir grilled Trump about the January 6th riots at the Capitol and whether he regretted the incident, but the former president did not provide a direct response.
19% : Trump argued that his border policies had kept America safe and emphasized that a softening of these policies under Harris would open the country to job losses, crime, and economic regression.
16% : Racial division was another major topic, with Harris accusing Trump of using race to divide the country.
15% : She also criticized Trump's lackadaisical approach to climate change, which Trump dismissed and, in contrast, doubled down on his support for deregulating the fossil fuel industry.
14% : Trump, in turn, fired back, stating that Harris' leadership was eroding the economy and depriving the American people of being able to afford basic groceries.
13% : Harris also advocated for strength in national security, which means respecting and supporting the U.S. military and its veterans, which she accused Trump of neglecting.
11% : Trump, meanwhile, argued that such conflicts would have never happened under his leadership, accusing Harris of abandoning Israel.
8% : Sensitive issues like race, abortion, and voting rights also took center stage, with Harris accusing Trump of worsening the country's divides.
7% : While Trump accused Harris of advocating for executing babies post-birth, Harris argued that her policies were centered around humanizing the conversation by focusing on the personal toll these decisions would have on families, either because of incest or rape.
2% : Trump fired at Joe Biden's policies and criticized Harris for aligning with what he called Marxism, claiming that their policies had deteriorated the US economy and led it into economic disaster.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.