Kamala Harris tells Donald Trump ‘Putin would eat you for lunch’ as presidential candidates clash in TV debate
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have clashed over issues including abortion, the economy and illegal immigration in their first – and possibly only – debate before the US election.
Ms Harris’s attacks appeared to get under her rival’s skin at times, claiming people left his rallies out of “boredom” and Russian President Vladimir Putin “would eat him for lunch”.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump frequently resorted to accusing her of allowing massive illegal immigration, as well as being a dangerous “Marxist” and the worst vice president ever.
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Harris walks to Trump for handshake
Trump v Harris debate live: Pivotal night in US election
The debate in Philadelphia began with Ms Harris approaching Mr Trump for a handshake – an awkward pleasantry in the 100-minute face-off.
Ms Harris addressed voters directly into the camera several times as she made promises including cutting the cost of living and restoring abortion rights.
The ex-president, however, focussed on the two moderators throughout as the debate took place without a live studio audience.
In the opening duels, Mr Trump claimed Ms Harris had no plan for the economy and – as part of the Biden administration – had presided over high inflation and a flood of illegal immigrants taking jobs.
The vice president, in turn, accused the Republican of planning “a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations”.
During one of Mr Trump’s frequent references to a “dangerous” immigrant influx, he made a bizarre claim there were cases of them eating people’s pets.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he said.
The debate moderator interjected to clarify that officials in Springfield, Ohio, had reported no credible reports of such incidents.
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Trump called out over ‘abortion lies’
Abortion rights were another key moment of the evening.
Ms Harris hit out at “Trump abortion bans” and said it was “unconscionable” that government should dictate what women do with their bodies.
During his presidency, Mr Trump installed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion in 2022.
The 78-year-old defended the move, saying the issue had been “tearing the country apart” and that he had led on IVF rights.
“Each individual state is voting. It’s the vote of the people now. It’s not tied up in the federal government. I did a great service in doing it,” said Mr Trump.
Ms Harris put in an assured performance in the much-anticipated head to head
Ms Harris said his claim her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz, supported abortion in the ninth month was a “bunch of lies” as she painted a sobering picture of what some women now go through.
“Now in over 20 states there are Trump abortion bans which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health care,” she said.
“In one state it provides prison for life. Trump abortion bans that make no exception even for rape and incest.”
‘Love letters to Kim Jong-un’
The former president, who’s looking to return to the White House despite his numerous legal troubles, looked rattled early on when Kamala Harris claimed people left his rallies “out of exhaustion and boredom”.
Mr Trump hit back that his events were “the most incredible rallies in the history of politics” and said Ms Harris was “bussing” people to her events and “paying them”.
Among other subjects, the two nominees were questioned on Ukraine, Gaza and Afghanistan.
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Sky correspondent challenges Trump over dogs claim
Mr Trump suggested a win for the Democrats would end up with World War 3 and painted Ms Harris as a “horrible negotiator” who wouldn’t be able to stand up for America.
She hit back that Putin “would eat you for lunch”, claiming he “exchanged love letters” with Kim Jong-un and “admires dictators”.
Ms Harris said America’s top military commanders viewed him as a liability who is easily manipulated.
“It is absolutely well known that these dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again, because they’re so clear they can manipulate you with flattery and favours,” said Ms Harris.
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How the US election works in 2 mins
Mr Trump repeated his belief the Ukraine invasion wouldn’t have happened if he were in charge and claimed he would end it within days if he wins the election.
On Gaza, Ms Harris insisted Israel had a right to defend itself but that a ceasefire and a path towards a two-state solution was vital. Mr Trump claimed she “hated” Israel and had refused to meet President Netanyahu.
‘Not even close’
Ms Harris’s performance was praised by the man who she replaced as a candidate following his own debate debacle.
Joe Biden posted on X that the debate “wasn’t even close” – but the 59-year-old told supporters afterwards there remained “a lot of work to do”.
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Mr Trump called it his “best debate ever” and claimed his opponent “lost” as he made a rare move of entering the spin room to defend his performance.
There are so far no plans for a second debate – with the ex-president telling reporters he would “have to think about it”.
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Putin reveals pick for US president
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Before Tuesday night, a summary of opinion polls by FiveThirtyEight put Ms Harris just ahead at 47.2% to 44.4% – it remains to be seen if the TV showdown will significantly shift those numbers.
There was also a boost post-debate for the Democrat hopeful when Taylor Swift posted on Instagram to say she backed Ms Harris.
“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” she wrote.
“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch, two Wall Street Journal reporters and the publication’s owner, News Corp.
The US president has accused the named individuals of defamation, claiming they acted with malicious intent and caused him overwhelming financial and reputational harm.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Miami, seeks at least $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump called the lawsuit “historic legal action” which was filed on behalf of himself and all Americans who he said will “no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media”.
“I hope Rupert and his ‘friends’ are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case,” he wrote.
It comes after Mr Trump claimed that a letter he allegedly wrote to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was “fake” and said he would sue the “ass off” Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which first published the story.
The publication had said Mr Trump wrote the letter as part of a collection Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, planned to give him as a 50th birthday present in 2003.
It claimed the message, allegedly from Mr Trump, featured several lines of typewritten text, concluding with: “May every day be another wonderful secret.”
The text was framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, the WSJ claimed. The letter is also said to have featured the signature “Donald”.
Mr Trump immediately denied writing the letter when the WSJ report was published on Thursday night.
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Memes of Epstein undermine victims, says lawyer
“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.”
Mr Trump ignored questions about Epstein as he signed a cryptocurrency bill at the White House earlier on Friday.
The president’s lawsuit comes as the US government filed a motion to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, who took his own life while awaiting trial in 2019.
In a Manhattan federal court filing, the Department of Justice said the criminal cases against Epstein and Maxwell are a matter of public interest, justifying the release of associated grand jury transcripts.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Trump said attorney general Pam Bondi had been asked to release the transcripts because of “the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein”.
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The justice department previously said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more.
It is unknown how much of this is grand jury testimony, which is typically kept secret under US law.
Read more:
All we know about the ‘friendship’
Trump denies writing birthday letter to Epstein
The president has faced increased scrutiny over his alleged friendship with Epstein since his administration’s U-turn on the so-called ‘Epstein files’.
Mr Trump pledged to release files on Epstein during his presidential campaign, as his MAGA movement accused the Biden administration of suppressing the extent of Epstein’s paedophilia, predatory behaviour and his so-called “client list” – thought to contain names of the rich and famous who conspired with him in his child sex trafficking operation.
But after a review of the evidence the US government has, the Justice Department recently determined that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted”.
Venezuela releases jailed Americans in prisoner swap
The Trump administration said on Friday that it had negotiated an exchange with Venezuela, resulting in the release of 10 jailed Americans.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the prisoners, who had been held in the South American country, were “on their way to freedom”.
Men in the CECOT jail in EL Salvador. Pic: Reuters
In return, 252 Venezuelan migrants being held in El Salvador have been freed, the Venezuelan government said.
They had been held in the notorious maximum security CECOT prison after being deported by the US.
US
Trump denies claim he wrote birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein – and says he has ordered release of more case files
Donald Trump has called an alleged letter he wrote to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein “fake” and said he will sue the “ass off” Rupert Murdoch, who owns the paper that first published the claim.
In multiple posts on Truth Social, the US president accused The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of fabricating the letter that it claimed was written by Mr Trump as part of a collection of letters addressed to Epstein that his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell planned to give him as a birthday present in 2003.
According to documents seen by the WSJ, Mr Trump’s letter featured several lines of typewritten text framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman.
The paper said the letter concludes “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret”, and featured the signature “Donald”, allegedly drawn across the woman’s waist, meant to mimic the appearance of pubic hair.
Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019. Pic: AP
Responding to the WSJ’s claims, Mr Trump wrote: “The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures.
“I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DJT.”
He said earlier he would also sue the WSJ and News Corp, which Mr Murdoch owns. The WSJ is published by News Corp subsidiary company, Dow Jones & Co.
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From 16 July: Trump: Epstein case is ‘a boring story’
The Justice Department has not responded to the WSJ and the FBI declined to comment.
In a separate post, Mr Trump said he has asked the attorney general, Pam Bondi, to release “any and all pertinent grand jury testimony” in the case of the paedophile financier who was found dead in his Manhattan cell in August 2019, shortly after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.
The release of any documents, Mr Trump said, would be subject to approval by a court.
The justice department has previously said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more. It is unknown how much of this is grand jury testimony – which is typically kept secret under US law.
Ms Bondi responded to the president on X, writing: “President Trump-we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
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Elon Musk, who claimed last month that Mr Trump appears in the Epstein files, was surprisingly among the first to come to the president’s defence over the WSJ claims.
“It really doesn’t sound like something Trump would say tbh,” the tech billionaire wrote on X, before going on to ask where the evidence against Epstein allegedly held by the FBI had gone.
The Trump administration has come under criticism after the president appeared to U-turn on his own promise to release more information about the Epstein case publicly.
In the run-up to the US election last year, Mr Trump drew on rumours and conspiracy theories that appeared to accuse the Biden administration of suppressing the extent of Epstein’s paedophilia, predatory behaviour and his so-called “client list” – thought to contain names of the rich and famous who conspired with him in a child sex trafficking operation.
Ms Bondi fuelled these rumours in February by telling Fox News that the alleged Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review”.
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In the same month, the justice department released some government documents regarding the case, but there were no new revelations.
After a months-long review of additional evidence, the department earlier this month released a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself, but said no other files related to the case would be made public.
The decision was criticised by many in Mr Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, who Mr Trump later called “weaklings”.
Sky News has contacted the White House for further comment.
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