With polls predicting a close race between the two heading into the November presidential election, Vice President Harris and former President Trump faced off in a crucial first debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Just weeks after Biden's historic withdrawal from the presidential race following a poor debate performance, Harris delivered a sharp performance on the ABC News stage, taunting and sparring with Trump on abortion, race, the economy and more.
The tense event marked the rivals' first face-to-face meeting, with Harris already challenging Trump to a second showdown.
Here are five lessons learned from Tuesday night's events.
Trump takes the bait
Heading into the debate, Harris was expected to provoke Trump into losing his cool.
The strategy appears to have been successful.
Harris made an immediate impression by walking across the stage to shake Trump's hand, something not seen at recent presidential debates involving Trump.
The former president appeared visibly frustrated throughout the forum, refusing to look at his rival at many points.
Harris launched a series of scathing criticisms at Trump, saying he had been “fired by 81 million Americans” and that the Biden administration had “cleaned up the stain of Donald Trump.”
The Vice President also criticized Trump for the rally's attendance, but Trump was quick to fire back.
“I would encourage you to go to one of Donald Trump's rallies because it would be really interesting to watch,” Harris said.
“He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He talks about windmills bringing cancer,” she continued. “You'll also notice that people start leaving his meetings early out of fatigue and boredom. And the one thing he won't talk about is you.”
The attack clearly upset President Trump.
“She said people are starting to leave. People are not coming to her rallies,” Trump said. “So she can't talk about that. People are not leaving my rallies.”
Trump was visibly upset that night, reinforcing the impression that Harris was annoying him.
This view clearly favoured Harris.
Harris delivers a sharp performance
While Trump was visibly shaken for much of the debate, Harris gave a consistently confident and calm performance.
Not only did she keep her cool, but she also offered a striking contrast to Trump by positioning herself as a leader of a new generation.
“Obviously I'm not Joe Biden, I'm not Donald Trump. What I'm proposing is a new generation of leadership for our country,” Harris said.
Harris was grilled on some of her perceived weaknesses, including immigration and foreign policy, but generally gave solid answers.
The vice president accused Trump of undermining last year's bipartisan border deal, saying he would “prefer to run an election with problems rather than solve them.”
The Harris campaign clearly believed their candidate had won, and in a statement released minutes after the debate ended, immediately called for a second debate.
“Under the bright lights, Americans could see the choice they face at the ballot box this fall: move forward with Kamala Harris or move backward with Trump,” said Jen O'Malley Dillon, co-chair of the Harris campaign.
Highlighting the success of Harris' performance, pop superstar Taylor Swift publicly supported her on Instagram just minutes after the event ended.
For the Vice President, the night couldn't have ended any better.
President Trump refuses to veto nationwide abortion ban
Trump has said he would not sign any anti-abortion legislation, but he has refused to say explicitly that he would veto such proposals if elected in November.
“When it comes to banning abortion, I'm not in favor of it, but that doesn't matter, because the states have now taken over that issue,” Trump said. The former president had bragged about being able to “bury” Roe v. Wade when the Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion access two years ago.
When asked if he would veto such a ban, Trump said “I don't have to veto it” and countered that it was “just a conversation,” before turning his response to attack Governor Harris over student loans.
One of the moderators, Lindsey Davis, encouraged Trump to answer yes or no, pointing out that vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio said last month that Trump would reject the proposal if it arrived on his desk.
“To be fair, I haven't discussed it with JD. … I don't care if he has a certain view,” Trump said, avoiding a direct answer. “Look, we don't have to discuss it with her because she'll never understand.”
Harris, meanwhile, has sharply criticized Trump on the issue of abortion, one of his biggest political weaknesses.
“The government, and certainly Donald Trump, should not be telling women what to do with their bodies,” Harris said.
The vice president highlighted the dire consequences for American women since Roe was decided, and in a sharp contrast to his rival, said he would “proudly sign” a bill restoring Roe's protections if it passed Congress.
Right-wingers go after moderators over fact-checking
ABC's hosts fact-checked key claims in real time during the contentious debate, a notable change from CNN's debate between Trump and Biden in June.
CNN's hosts were heavily criticized for letting the candidates chatter unchecked, but Davis and David Muir stepped in multiple times to steer the conversation.
Muir pushed back against Trump's unfounded claim that immigrants in Ohio eat their pets, and when Trump claimed without evidence that Harris' running mate supports “post-birth executions,” Davis quickly pointed out that “there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born.”
And when asked about his earlier comments that he lost the 2020 election “by a small margin,” Trump insisted he was being sarcastic.
“I didn't think it was ironic,” Muir replied.
Online conservatives were quick to criticize Muir and Davis.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the presenters were “essentially on the Democratic National Committee's payroll”, while conservative media personality Ben Shapiro said “they're an embarrassment to the profession”.
“These moderators are a disgraceful failure and this is one of the most biased & unfair debates I have ever seen,” tweeted conservative talk show host Megyn Kelly.
Trump stumbles over 'planning concept'
Trump's statement that he has a “vision plan” to follow up on his failed efforts to repeal Obamacare was one of the most talked-about moments of the night.
Asked if he had a plan to make the effort a success in a possible second term, Trump said: “We're working on it. We're going to get it done and we're going to replace it.”
The former president has long been a critic of the health care law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010, despite failed Republican efforts to repeal it during his time in office. He has since said he would keep the law in place “unless there's a better way.”
Asked during the debate if he had a plan, Trump replied, “I have a plan in mind. I'm not the president right now.”
“We'll only change it if we come up with something better and cheaper. And we have concepts and options to make that happen, and I think you'll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future.”
Onstage, Harris stressed that she wants to “preserve and expand” Obamacare, noting that it has held up despite multiple Republican attempts to repeal it, and touted her work with the Biden administration to strengthen the law, allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices and cap insulin prices.
