During the debate on Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris clashed with Donald Trump and made several claims that were later criticized for being misleading. Harris made statements regarding Trump’s views on abortion, IVF, the Charlottesville protest, the auto industry, and his involvement in January 6th, many of which were called out as false.
ABC moderators were quick to fact-check Trump but failed to address many of Harris’ misrepresentations, including the claim that no state allows abortions at term, a statement later revealed to be inaccurate.
Harris revisited Trump’s controversial comments about the 2017 Charlottesville rally, where far-right groups clashed with opponents over Confederate statues. “Remember Charlottesville,” Harris said, “where people with tiki torches were spewing antisemitic hate, and the president said there were ‘fine people on both sides.’” However, this claim has long been debunked. Snopes clarified that Trump did not refer to neo-Nazis and white supremacists as “very fine people.”
Harris also claimed that Trump warned of a “bloodbath” if he wasn’t re-elected. In reality, Trump’s comments were related to the impact of Biden’s electric vehicle mandate on the auto industry, saying it could lead to severe economic consequences for the country. He stated that, without his leadership, it would be a “bloodbath” for the country due to poor trade policies, particularly in relation to car manufacturing in Mexico.
On abortion, Harris suggested Trump would enact a federal ban, despite his repeated stance against such a ban. She also alleged that he opposes IVF, a claim that contradicts his support for insurance coverage of the procedure. Additionally, Harris glossed over the fact that several states have no limits on abortion, with cases like Oregon allowing abortions well past the point of viability.
Regarding January 6th, Harris accused Trump of neglecting his duty during the Capitol riots. Trump, however, pointed out that he had reached out to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was responsible for overseeing Capitol security, but she chose not to deploy additional officers. Pelosi later admitted this decision was a mistake, as revealed in footage from a documentary filmed by her daughter that day.
In closing, Trump questioned why Harris, after three and a half years in office, hadn’t implemented the solutions she now claimed to have for issues like the economy and illegal immigration. If she had these answers, he argued, why hadn’t she acted on them already?
