Kamala Harris and Donald Trump spar over fracking, immigration, and race in debate; protesters detained in Center City; Harris visits Philly watch party

The most highly anticipated 90 minutes of the presidential campaign are over and the mics are off — for good.

Harris went on the offensive from the beginning of the night, casting the former president as the extreme candidate and baiting him by talking about issues known to irk him, like supporters leaving his rallies early, world leaders calling him a “disgrace,” and noting the numerous criminal cases against him.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Harris reached voters in swing states during the debate Tuesday night by presenting “a strong case for someone who wants to take a new path forward.”

Cooper, the governor of a swing state himself, noted Harris’ answers to questions on reproductive access, a top issue during the 2024 election.

Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Tuesday that "Donald Trump knew coming in that this was going to be a three against one debate," suggesting that the debate and the moderators was biased toward Harris. Gabbard echoed similar rhetoric that Trump himself espoused to supports when he made an impromptu stop by the spin room after the debate.

"It wasn't a surprise to see how biased they were and how they broke their own rules," Gabbard said.

Gov. Josh Shapiro says he will not be letting up on the campaign trail for the Harris-Walz ticket anytime soon as Election Day inches closer.

"I'm going to continue to go out and talk about the person I've known for nearly 20 years, a person I think, who is incredibly well-prepared to serve as the 47th president of the United States, someone who's going to be great for Pennsylvania," Shapiro said, then utilizing his catchphrase "GSD," noting that President Joe Biden and Harris have been "great teammates" in "getting stuff done."

Former President Donald Trump unexpectedly walked into the spin room late Tuesday, claiming it was his “best debate yet” and that Vice President Kamala Harris was requesting a second debate “because she lost.”

The impromptu spin room appearance sent a crush of reporters away from the surrogates milling about the room and toward Trump, who was difficult to hear as he walked from one end of the gaggle to the other claiming victory.

Vice President Kamala Harris supporters crowded around a stage at Cherry Street Pier after the debate awaiting a special guest that was rumored to be the vice president herself.

As Beyoncé songs blasted, supporters held their phones up in excitement. At last, at 11:22 p.m., Harris walked on stage, led by second gentleman Doug Emhoff. She reiterated that she sees herself as the underdog in the race, but declared that she will win Pennsylvania. 

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance said former President Donald Trump “reminded Pennsylvania” that Vice President Kamala Harris wants to ban fracking, a popular Trump campaign talking point especially in their visits to the commonwealth.

Vance accused Harris of “running away from her record” on the topic. Harris has flip-flopped on fracking over the years, originally being in favor of a ban on the oil drilling practice that is a popular industry in Pennsylvania.

Few things could compete with the newsworthiness of the first and possibly only presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Those things include an endorsement from Taylor Swift.

John McAuley, 36, of Mount Airy would give former President Donald Trump’s debate performance a “B.”

“I’ve seen him do better,” said McAuley, who thought Trump focused too much on the border at the expense of issues that impact everyone, such as the economy.

Gov. Josh Shapiro lauded Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate performance in the spin room Tuesday night crediting her with reminding Americans of the “chaos” of Donald Trump.

“After Kamala Harris prosecuted the case against Donald Trump tonight, they remember,” Shapiro said. “They remember the chaos. They remember the way he ripped away people's fundamental freedoms, particularly women's freedoms in this country.”

Immediately after the debate concluded, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign announced she was game for another round of sparring with former President Donald Trump before the Nov. 5 election.

“That was fun. Let’s do it again in October,” Harris campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon posted on X.

The debate concluded just before 10:45 p.m. and the candidates left the stage after nearly two hours of tense exchanges.

In closing statements Harris highlighted her policy priorities while Trump went on the attack.

Moses Oliva, 47, traveled from North Jersey down to Philadelphia because “it’s where the energy is.”

Oliva described the presidential debate as a closer contest than he expected, with Vice President Kamala Harris landing several zingers on former president Donald Trump, his preferred candidate.

President Donald Trump was pressed by the moderators to articulate his plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. But after years of criticizing former President Barack Obama’s signature accomplishment and saying it should be replaced, Trump once again did not provide an alternative. 

“I have concepts of a plan. I'm not president right now,” Trump said, adding that he would only go forward with a new plan if it was more affordable than the Affordable Care Act. 

Vice President Kamala Harris used a question about fighting climate change to tout the record of President Joe Biden's administration on investing in clean energy and the administration’s record on manufacturing jobs.

“I am proud that as vice president over the last four years we have invested $1 trillion dollars in a clean energy economy while we have also increased domestic gas production to historic levels,” Harris said. “We have created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs while I have been vice president.”

Content creators also attended the Kamala Harris campaign watch party on Cherry Street Pier.

Kenny Screven, a Lehigh Valley-based beauty content creator whose handle is kscreven on social media, and Sophia Schiaroli, an LGBTQ-focused Philly-based influencer whose handle is soso_swag, both said they were collecting lots of content at the event.

Former President Donald Trump obfuscated when asked why he felt he had the right to question anyone’s race.

“I don’t care what she is,” he said. “I read where she was not Black that she put out, and then I read that she was Black… that’s up to her.”

While debating abortion policy Harris pivoted to fertility treatments.

“Couples who pray and dream of having a family are being denied IVF,” Harris said.

The candidates turned to their usual talking points when asked about the Israel-Hamas war, with Vice President Kamala Harris saying the administration was working “around the clock” to reach a cease-fire deal and former President Donald Trump claiming the Oct. 7 attack on Israel would never have happened if he were president.

Harris said she supports Israel’s “ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran,” and said that she also wanted to see an “immediate” end to the suffering in Gaza caused by Israel’s invasion.

Andy Meehan, a 60-year-old Bucks County decked out in a MAGA hat and American flag polo, said he would give Donald Trump’s first half debate performance a “B-plus.”

“I don’t think he’s had a shining moment or a real zinger; but he’s been consistent in exposing” Kamala Harris, Meehan said from his front row perch at the Philadelphia Young Republicans watch party at the swanky Kimpton Hotel Monaco.

After four hours of largely uneventful pro-Palestine protests, tensions came to a boil between police and protesters.

One individual who wore a horned mask lit a red flare prompting officers to detain him and then a scuffle ensued with police and protesters who demanded to know why they were taking the individual with the flare away. Some protesters threw water at police as police surrounded and outnumbered those who remained off of Fourth and Market Streets.

On the debate stage Tuesday Trump defiantly, and incorrectly, insisted he had won the 2020 election, perpetuating his false claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania and other swing states.

Trump and his allies have never presented proof of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election and lost dozens of lawsuits they filed seeking to overturn the election in key states.

ABC debate moderator Linsey Davis asked a question about Vice President Kamala Harris’ changing stances on a number of issues, including fracking.

The line of questioning stems from comparisons between Harris’ 2019 presidential campaign and her 2024 campaign. During a Democratic town hall in 2019, Harris said she opposed fracking. Her campaign has since said she doesn’t support a ban on the practice.

As the candidates sparred over immigration during the early phases of the debate, former President Donald Trump continued to invoke falsehoods, and debate moderators started to push back.

For the second time, Trump referenced false reports that immigrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. ABC News moderator David Muir noted that the Springfield city manager has said there were no such documented cases of that happening.

Former President Donald Trump attempted to create a viral moment by hearkening back to a time Kamala Harris had her own.

When he was discussing her evolving policy positions, Harris pushed back while he was speaking, shaking her head and suggesting he was not telling the truth.

Harris and Trump shared a heated exchange Tuesday over abortion rights and how they would manage the issue after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Trump refused to answer questions about whether he would veto a national abortion ban, but said he believed the 2022 decision rightly returned the issue to the states and falsely claimed Democrats would push for abortions after birth.

After an awkward handshake between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, who have never met, the presidential debate in Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center kicked off with the candidates answering a series of questions about the economy.

Touting her middle class upbringing, Harris contrasted herself with Trump and listed several of the economic policies her campaign has rolled out over the last few weeks.

In the first question of the debate, the candidates were asked about the economy. President Donald Trump used the opportunity to pivot to his signature issue of immigration and in his signature style: with falsehoods.

“You look at Springfield, Ohio. You look Aurora in Colorado,” Trump said. “They are taking over towns. They are taking over buildings. They are going in violently. These are the people that she and Biden let into our country.”

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Pa.) had a surprise interaction and conversation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while she was in the middle of being interviewed by NewsNation anchor Leland Vittert in the spin room.

Kennedy was walking by surrounded by reporters when Vittert called out his name and he stopped and joined Dean's interview.

Supporters of Kamala Harris gathered in Cherry Street Pier at the official Harris campaign watch party.

The atmosphere was fun and joyful as music filled the air and caterers walked around with trays of smoked salmon, pork, and guacamole hors d'oeuvres, but the mood shifted once the debate began.

At the Dell Music Center, the watch audience cheered and applauded as Vice President Kamala Harris talked about her economy proposals — as loudly as they jeered at Trump's comments about immigrants and some other Harris jabs.

Annamarie Carter, 65, a mental health administrator from Northeast Philly, listened in the audience.

At the Philadelphia Young Republicans watch party — where the debate channel of choice is Fox News — jeers of “answer the question!” rang out as Vice President Harris opened her answer about the economy with an anecdote about growing up middle class

When Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned Project 2025, the watch party erupted in boos. And when former president Trump refuted his involvement in the broad sweeping plan constructed by the Heritage Project, the boos turned to whoops.

Usually, Liz Madden doesn’t agree with Donald Trump’s policies. But on Tuesday night, she stood supporting him outside the National Constitution Center.

“There are a lot of parents who can’t adopt because there’s no more babies in this country,” the senior citizen said. “That’s because of abortion.”

In front of a big, blue screen with the message "Pennsylvania for Harris Walz," several state politicians and public officials led the crowd at Dell Music Center in pre-debate pep rally.

In the audience of the event — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's debate watch party — people waved Harris and Kamala placards. Others read: Do Something.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have taken the stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for a high-stakes presidential debate that could be pivotal in determining who wins the White House.

It’s the first debate since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race following a disastrous performance against Trump in a June debate. It’s also the first-ever debate between presidential candidates who hold their respective positions, as the sitting vice president and a former president.

“I think Trump’s going to do a smackdown,” said Ed Spofford, 34, a staunch Trump support decked out in a Make America Great Again dad hat.

Both he and his friend Rockwell Shortlidge — a self described “pro-choice libertarian” feel that Trump has a clear leg up when it comes to explaining his platform.

As debate time neared and pro-Palestinian protesters marched through Old City, the scene in front the National Constitution Center looked like welcome week on a college campus with sections of Independence Mall offering something for everyone.

Trump supporters draped themselves in American flags, Poets for Peace penned words for passersby, and three men played music for “the people” in between both groups.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, speaking for former President Donald Trump in the spin room Tuesday night, said he thinks there’s a chance Vice President Harris comes across as too aggressive.

“I think there’s a risk both ways,” Burgum said, asked about concerns Trump may go on the attack and come across as a bully. “I think depending on the tenor of how people…interact with each other, either one of them could come off too aggressive."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that while he hopes Harris is "talking to the hearts and souls of hundreds of millions of Americans," he acknowledged the importance in her speaking to voters in swing states at Tuesday’s debate.

"This is a game of inches in these swing states," Newsom said in the spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have arrived at the National Constitution Center, where Harris and Trump will debate in one hour.

Protesters are met by scores of police and heavy metal barriers, keeping them from the building that lies about a football field away.

Valerie Smith, 52, said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the first politician she felt compelled to campaign for. But if the election were held tonight, she’d cast her ballot for Donald Trump — mostly because RFK endorsed him.

She’s not expecting much from the debate tonight when it comes to substantive answers on policy, said Smith, but she will be watching closely how Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris interact with one another.

At the Philadelphia Young Republicans watch party, spirits were high as former Senate candidate and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz popped in while reporters from Fox Nation taped in the background.

The focus tonight, those at the party said, is not on what former President Donald Trump could do to dissuade voters, but what he could do to reintroduce himself after four years out of office, social media bans, and several criminal convictions.

About 200 protesters converged at City Hall around 7 p.m. and made their way toward the National Constitution Center, calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Still, a slew of perspectives on how to view the 2024 presidential election were on display.

Former Senate candidate Mehmet Oz made a stop at the Philadelphia Young Republicans watch party, held across the street from the National Constitution Center at the the Kimpton Hotel Monaco.

The crowd was thin, but Oz posed for photos with Jeff Bartos, a former Republican candidate for Senate. Oz stressed that he was in town for an advertising conference, not the debate. He declined interviews regarding expectations for former President Donald Trump’s performance.

Lady Soule has heard nothing from Vice President Kamala Harris that suggests the candidate's position on the war in Gaza would differ from that of President Joe Biden's administration.

So as Soule stood with her family outside City Hall surrounded by pro-Palestinian protesters, the 34 year-old hoisted a sign signaling her frustration:

Sen. John Fetterman said he believes Vice President Kamala Harris will carry Pennsylvania, and that fracking isn’t a big policy issue to voters in the state, during an interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday.

“Fracking is not going to be a defining issue in this election, and I said that exact same thing in 2020,” said Fetterman.

With several hours until the debate, around 40 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside City Hall to condemn Israel's war in Gaza and the politicians who support the country's military campaign.

Protesters chanted the familiar "Free, Free Palestine," and held signs with demands such as "Stop the genocide."

The debate may be unfolding in America’s most coveted swing state but not many surrogates scheduled to stump for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are from Pennsylvania.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is the lone Pennsylvanian on the lists for both campaigns. He’s slated to stop by the spin room for Harris after dropping into a watch party hosted by the Harris-Walz campaign.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump might be getting ready for the presidential debate, but they are far from the only ones.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper, a Philadelphia native who spoke to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker earlier Tuesday, strolled down Reading Terminal Market's halls looking for a bite ahead of the action.

The Harris-Walz campaign will fly a "drone show" over the Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 8:05 to 8:25 p.m. Tuesday, shortly before Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage to debate former President Donald Trump, according to campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz.

The drone show will promote campaign messaging and build off of the Philly-themed advertising that has been plastered across the city Tuesday. The ads feature the typical symbols of Philly culture — Wawa, cheesesteaks, and pretzels.

Anthony Scaramucci, former Trump White House communications director, and Olivia Troye, former national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, stopped by the spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Tuesday to talk with reporters. Serving as surrogates for the Harris campaign, the ex-Trump administration officials have since been outspoken opponents of the former president.

To win over undecided and Republican voters in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, Troye said it comes down to "a vision of what you want for the future of our country" and that "it's important to really understand sort of the extremism of the agenda that Donald Trump proposes."

The second floor of the Convention Center has been transformed into a cavernous hybrid media filing center and spin room about three-quarters of a mile away from the National Constitution Center.

More than 1,000 reporters and surrogates for both campaigns are expected to be here tonight.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper hours before the debate, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was asked a specific strategy question: Should Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign try to appeal more to Republican women in the suburbs, or conservative Democratic men in rural areas?

Parker called that “narrow-minded” – then showed her focus is squarely on her city.

Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia and Delaware) hopes that Harris will be able to reach independent voters and anti-Trump Republican voters — groups McClinton says can "absolutely" be swayed to vote for the vice president — during her debate performance tonight.

These two groups of voters "have been wanting a strong option for some time on who they could choose in this election, did not want to see a second Trump presidency, but for a variety of reasons, perhaps, were not excited about supporting President Biden for a reelection," McClinton said.

A small group of supporters of former President Donald Trump gathered at Max’s Steaks on Germantown Avenue as part of the first stop on the Black Conservative Federation’s Black Voters for Trump Philadelphia bus tour on Tuesday.

Curious passersby stopped by and spoke with U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R, Fl.) and Kwame Kilpatrick, a former Democratic mayor of Detroit whose 28-year sentence was commuted by Trump. (Kilpatrick, now an independent, is campaigning for Trump for the first time this election.)

Back in Philadelphia for Tuesday’s presidential debate, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R, Fl.) said that he doesn’t regret the comments he made in June about the Jim Crow era that made waves from Philly to Washington, D.C.

“Who was actually upset was the political elites in Washington, in the Democrat Party, who are trying to find a reason to foment anger and emotions,” Donalds told The Inquirer outside of Max’s Steaks on Germantown Avenue on Tuesday. Donalds visited the cheesesteak spot as part of the Black Conservative Federation’s Black Voters for Trump bus tour through Philly.

It's not going to be hard to find tonight's debate on television.

While ABC is hosting the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, it will also air live on all major broadcast channels (CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS) and cable news networks (C-Span, CNN, MSNBC, Fox Business, Fox News).

No stranger to contentious televised debates, Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) said whatever happens tonight, "it will be close."

The Democratic senator weighed in on both the debate and the election overall during an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Vice President Kamala Harris stopped by Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center on Tuesday afternoon to tour the debate stage ahead of tonight’s event with Donald Trump.

Harris was expected to check out the space before tonight's debate at 9 p.m. Philly time, but the pool of journalists trailing her weren’t permitted to exit the motorcade and document her tour.

All eastbound lanes on the Ben Franklin Bridge heading into New Jersey are now closed due to tonight's debate, the Delaware River Port Authority announced Tuesday afternoon.

The lanes, which weren't slated to close until after rush hour, will remain closed until after the debate, possibly until Wednesday morning. Travelers should use the Walt Whitman or Betsy Ross Bridges for to travel to New Jersey.

Gov. Josh Shapiro will speak at a Harris-Walz debate watch party in Philly tonight, according to a spokesperson.

After the debate, Shapiro will be in the spin room at the Convention Center, taking questions from reporters and looking to promote Vice President Kamala Harris' performance and contrast it with former President Donald Trump's.

Call it the horse race of America, wagers amounting to millions of dollars are trying to predict the outcome of tonight's debate.

As of publication time, bettors on Polymarket — a cryptotrading platform — believe there's a 73% chance that Vice President Kamala Harris will win the debate according to polls.

City offices within the Center City area closed at noon Tuesday due to increased security, road closures, and other anticipated activity ahead of the presidential debate at the National Constitution Center.

Offices outside the downtown area remain open, and city workers will “be back at their desks” in Center City on Wednesday morning, according to spokesperson Joe Grace.

It’s been a long wait, but Philly is about to host its second presidential debate, and this time Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald J. Trump are the combatants.

It probably had nothing do with the 48-year interval that was to follow, but that first one back in 1976 didn’t go so well.

One of the most anticipated events of the 2024 presidential election is happening in Philly and local officials say they are prepared for protests.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel said Monday that Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management would be activated ahead of Tuesday’s presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, where Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to face off at 9 p.m. in their first debate.

Two Philadelphia public schools will dismiss early Tuesday because of the presidential debate happening in Center City.

McCall Elementary, at 325 S. Seventh St., and Constitution High, at 18 S. Seventh St., are closing at 12:39.

Philadelphians have always known that our city is the center of the universe. For today and the next 55 days, so will everyone else.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will meet Tuesday night for a debate that’s so historic and potentially pivotal that it’s nearly impossible to fit into one sentence just how unprecedented it is. The presidential nominees are squaring off in what may be their only debate at one of our city’s great prides, the National Constitution Center, which overlooks Independence Hall and the birthplace of American democracy.

Even after Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, voters expressed frustration with the political system — a sentiment that’s often especially true for undecided voters, who tend to be moderate or independent.

While both Donald Trump and Harris have served in the White House, they have each tried to present themselves as the candidate who can bring a fresh start. Some of Trump’s campaign signs read “Let’s Save America.” Harris has been vice president for nearly a term, but frequently talks to voters about “fighting for a brighter future.” As both candidates make a pitch that they’re the change the country needs, who will do it more effectively?

ABC News shared a photo Monday night of how the debate stage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia will look when Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump take the stage tonight.

Preparations were still being completed Monday. Normally, the Commission on Presidential Debates organizes the presidential and vice presidential debates years in advance, but this year Trump and President Joe Biden bypassed the nonpartisan group and agreed on their own debate schedule.

Speaking to reporters after a "Protect the Vote" event in Montgomery County on Monday Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said former President Donald Trump should focus on the issues such as inflation and national security in Tuesday's debate.

"He needs to say that he is running to represent all Americans, that he is running to unify this country," Whatley said.