Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump met face to face for the first time ever in Tuesday’s presidential debate at 9pm US Eastern time (01:00 GMT) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The debate arrives eight weeks ahead of the United States general elections on Tuesday, November 5.
Tonight’s event is the second presidential debate of the election cycle, but it is the first to include Harris: She replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee after he withdrew from the race in July.
Harris has hammered Trump on questions of foreign policy, abortion access and election integrity, while Trump has repeatedly invoked fears of immigration to the US.
Fox News commentators: ‘Tonight, she won’
Some commentators on Fox News, a conservative TV network, said in post-debate comments that Kamala Harris won her debate against Donald Trump.
She was “well prepared, had answers, and knew where she was going,” said Fox political analyst Brit Hume. He compared Harris’s debate performance with an interview she and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz gave on CNN last month, calling her “a different person” tonight.
Hume also indicated Harris managed to derail Trump at various points throughout the debate.
“She baited him — successfully,” Hume said. “She came out ahead in this, in my opinion. No doubt.”
Hume added that Trump had a “bad night.”
“Tonight, she won,” echoed Harold Ford Jr, another commentator.
Other network talent, however, criticized the debate’s moderators, accusing them of only fact-checking Trump and calling the debate “frustrating“.
Trump is a frequent guest on Fox News shows, but he has had an uneasy relationship with the broadcaster, faulting the broadcaster for calling states like Arizona for the Democrats during the 2020 presidential race.
The results of the 2020 election — which Trump lost — caused internal strife at Fox News, with some journalists pushing for accurate reporting and others repeating Trump’s false claims that he won.
Source: Al Jazeera
BDST: 1020 HRS, SEPT 11, 2024
SMS
