‘Executed’: Trump’s shock claim stuns Harris
Donald Trump has struggled to answer a key question at the presidential debate which could decide many votes across the US.
Donald Trump has struggled to answer a key question during the presidential debate with Kamala Harris regarding abortion rights
He also made a wild claim that the Democrats would allow the “execution” of babies after birth.
Ms Harris and Mr Trump went head to head in what could be the pair’s only debate in a campaign that was turned upside down by Joe Biden’s withdrawal.
One of the first questions was about abortion – a huge election issue.
When in office Mr Trump appointed three Supreme Court judges who were instrumental in ending the national right to abortion in the US with the rolling back of the legal case of Roe vs. Wade. It was a move that was popular with conservative Republicans. However, a CBS poll shows 60 per cent of Americans want abortion to be legal.
The Democrats have claimed that Mr Trump will facilitate more bans. He, however, has tried to distance himself from the issue. He has varied his position from taking full credit for Roe vs. Wade to saying that it should be an issue for the states to saying he doesn’t back full abortion bans in the states.
Mr Trump was asked by the moderators if he would veto a potential nationwide abortion ban if it came to Congress, as some Republicans have pushed for. That would see abortions outlawed in every part of the US regardless if an individual state was in favour of not.
He did not say no, but rather said that no proposal would come before Congress.
“There’s no reason to sign a ban, because we’ve got what everybody wanted”.
Mr Trump insisted that the issue simply wouldn’t come up in Congress even though its not in his power to stop that from occurring.
“Would you veto a national abortion ban?” asked ABC host David Muir.
“Well I won’t have to,” he said.
‘Executed’
Mr Trump went on the attack, claiming Democrat states want “abortion in the ninth month”.
“They are radical. The Democrats are radical in that. Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth, execution – no longer abortion, because the baby is born – is OK. That’s not OK with me.”
The ABC moderators then chipped in: “There is no state in this country where it’s legal to kill a baby after it’s born”.
Ms Harris said the Supreme Court “did exactly as (Mr Trump) intended”.
“Now, in over 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide healthcare.
“Trump abortion bans that make no exception even for rape and incest which means a survivor of a crime of violation to their body, does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next. That is immoral.
“Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not happening. It’s insulting to the women of America,” she said.
‘Don’t’: Trump warned
A constant bugbear from team Trump is their candidate’s predilection for swerving off message and going down rabbit holes about issues as fringe as Ms Harris’ racial identity and whether her crowds at rallies were AI-generated.
These statements go down well with rusted on Trump supporters but they are thought to be a turn off to voters in the centre who could decide this election.
Before the debate, Republican Senate Whip John Thune has warned Mr Trump not to go down that path.
“Just stay focused on the issues. And don’t make things personal,” he told CNN.
“This is a choice for the American voters. It ought to be about people’s records, their
positions and their vision for the future”.
Yet in a New York Times interview, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said this was exactly what Ms Harris should do.
“She just should not be baited. She should bait him. He can be rattled. He doesn’t know how to respond to substantive, direct attacks”.
And it appears she managed to do just that, according to some observers.
Website Politico’s Adam Cancryn and Myah Ward said Ms Harris successfully “got under Trump’s skin, over and over again”.
“She taunted him for his crowd sizes, his past bankruptcies, his inherited wealth and more,” they wrote.
“Mocking Trump’s stature on the global stage, Harris claimed that world leaders laugh at him — a barb aimed squarely at his personal insecurities. The result left Trump on the defensive — and struggling to land hits even as the discussion turned to territory friendlier for him like immigration and the economy.”
Bizarre dog eating claims
One rabbit hole Mr Trump went down, without Ms Harris’ encouragement, is an apparently debunked theory that immigrants are eating 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 during the debate.
“This is what is happening in our country and it’s a shame.”
The rumour, which appears to have been spread by far right activists through Facebook groups, claimed Haitians were abducting cats and ducks and eating them in the Ohio city of Springfield.
The Caribbean nation of Haiti is essentially lawless and overrun by violent gangs which many have tried to escape from. Springfield has seen a sizeable number of immigrants which as caused local tensions.
Springfield police have pushed back on the pet eating claims.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, who is an Ohio Senator, referred to the wild claims on Monday on a Twitter/X post.
“Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border (Tsar)?” he wrote referring to Ms Harris who has an immigration role in the White House.
Other Republicans have since posted about the false claim – some would likely claim for laughs – and Twitter owner Elon Musk, who is close to Mr Trump’s campaign, has also amplified it. Mr Trump himself has posted AI images on his social media of him saving cats.
On Tuesday, White House spokesman John Kirby said the claims were racist.
“You’ve got now elected officials in the Republican Party pushing yet another conspiracy theory that’s just seeking to divide people based on lies — and let’s be honest — based on an element of racism.”
Mr Vance has responded by claiming that his office has received messages from “actual residents of Springfield” who said animals were stolen by Haitians.
“It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumours will turn out to be false”.
- with Frank Chung and Samuel Clench.
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