The conflicting positions of candidates Trump and Harris before their first debate

2024-09-10 22:56:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The conflicting positions of candidates Trump and Harris before their first

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will face off for the first time in the highly anticipated debate on Tuesday night. The two presidential candidates describe the state of the country in completely different terms. Former President Trump often paints a darker picture, focusing on issues like immigration and high inflation, while Vice President Harris focuses on optimism for the future, promising that "we're not going back."

The first debate for the 2024 election was held in June, when President Joe Biden made a poor showing, which caused him to withdraw from the race. That debate featured numerous false statements from both candidates, and Tuesday's showdown is likely to have a similar look.

Let's take a look at the false statements made by former President Trump and Vice President Harris during recent public events.

Abortion remains a major issue

The Supreme Court's unprecedented ruling that struck down the right to abortion at the national level has made abortion a key issue for the 2024 election. As a result of this ruling, abortion is now banned at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states by Republicans, with some limited exceptions. In three other states, abortion is prohibited after the first six weeks of pregnancy, when in most cases women are still unaware of the pregnancy.

Former President Trump often portrays Democrats as radicals on abortion. He has stated on several occasions, including during the June debate, that some states allow women to have abortions after they have given birth. This is not true. Taking the life of an infant is a criminal offense in all US states, and no state has passed legislation allowing the killing of an infant after birth. During her acceptance speech as the Democratic Party's official nominee for president, Ms. Harris said that Mr. Trump would "impose a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress." Former President Trump said on August 22 on the show "Fox & Friends" that "I would never do this. There will be no federal prohibition law. This issue has already returned to the states, where it should be". However, by March he had suggested he would support a nationwide ban on abortion after about 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Blame the withdrawal from Afghanistan

Former President Trump has repeatedly tried to make the connection between Vice President Harris and the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which saw the Taliban return to power before US forces were fully withdrawn from Kabul airport in August 2021.

Most assessments of the matter conclude that former President Trump and President Biden share responsibility for the shocking conclusion to the longest war in American history. The government's top inspector general's report pointed to former President Trump's deal with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw US forces as the "most decisive factor" in the collapse of Afghan security forces and the Taliban's takeover.

President Biden's announcement in April 2021 that he would continue with the withdrawal plans initiated by former President Trump was the second most important factor. Vice President Harris has said that she was present when President Biden made the decision, but neither the government report nor the 18-month investigation by Republican lawmakers have identified any moment when the Vice President had a significant role in this decision-making.

A suicide bombing at the Kabul airport as the withdrawal continued took the lives of 13 American servicemen and more than 170 Afghans.

Opposing views on the economy

Voters list the economy and inflation as top concerns for this year's election, and candidates Trump and Harris present their vision of how they will improve the country's condition.

Democrats, including Vice President Harris, say former President Trump's proposal to impose a 10-20% tariff on all imports — and even up to 60% on imports from China — would cost families $3,900 a year common american. Most economists agree that tariffs would raise prices for many goods. The $3,900 figure was suggested by the Center for American Progress, a progressive activist group. However, former President Trump has said that revenue collected from the tariffs could be used to lower other taxes, thereby reducing the overall cost of the policy.

One of the main proposals of Vice President Harris would allow a financial assistance of 25 thousand dollars for those who buy houses for the first time, as well as tax deductions for the builders of these houses. Experts say these promises could have other consequences, such as increased demand for new housing in a market where supply is 3 to 7 million homes less than demand.

Former President Trump repeatedly mentions the state of the economy under the leadership of his administration as the best in the history of the country, while pointing out the high level of inflation under the leadership of President Biden.

But it is not accurate to say that the economy was in the best shape under former President Trump. First, the COVID-19 pandemic caused massive havoc during his presidency. Without calculating the consequences caused by the pandemic, the average economic growth was at 2.67% during the first three years of the administration of former President Trump. That's a solid figure, but it doesn't come close to the 4% average economic growth under former President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Energy, inflation and oil drilling

Former President Trump has pledged to increase oil exploration, increase domestic production and thus reduce inflation. But US oil production has reached a record high under President Biden's administration, and inflation has already begun to decline. Also, fuel prices have started to fall across the country. The average cost was at $3.27 on Monday, compared to the record $5.01 that was reached in June 2021, according to data from the American Automobile Association.

Former President Trump recently claimed that all coal-fired power plants will be forced to shut down in the coming years, due to an April ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency. But, this is not true. Power plants will have the obligation to eliminate 90% of the pollution they currently emit by 2032, or else risk being closed. The power plants that are closing are doing so for economic reasons – they cannot compete with natural gas, solar and wind power.

Vice President Harris' views on oil exploration have changed over time and have come under the spotlight in recent weeks. During a meeting with Democrats in 2019 about her 2020 presidential bid, the vice president said she was opposed to the technology of drilling for oil through hydraulic pressure in rocky areas, which causes environmental pollution. But her electoral team recently clarified that she is no longer against this practice.

In her first interview since announcing her candidacy for this year's election, Ms. Harris said she made it clear she was not in favor of a drilling ban during the 2020 debate when she faced former Vice President Mike Pence. But, from the examination of that debate, it appears that she had said that President Biden "would not end drilling for oil".

The level of crimes during the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations

Democrats have pointed to the high level of violent crime during the administration of former President Trump, who has now pleaded guilty to 34 felony counts in a scheme to influence the 2016 election. for law and order, claiming that violent crimes have increased during President Biden's administration.

Violent crimes fell during most of former President Trump's tenure, according to data from the FBI, which compiles information provided by law enforcement agencies. There was, however, an increase in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has since declined across the US, approaching pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Preliminary FBI data shows that the rate of serious crimes continued to decline by 6% through 2023.

Another Department of Justice report shows, however, that the rate of serious crimes according to police data has increased by 42.4% for people aged 12 and over during the period 2021-2022.

Continued allegations about border security

Former President Trump is expected to attack Vice President Harris again on border security. He stated during a press conference last month that 20 million people have crossed the US-Mexico border during the current administration. But this figure is not based on facts.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency reported 7.1 million arrests of people who crossed the border illegally from Mexico during the period January 2021 – June 2024. This is the number of arrests, not people. Due to restrictions placed on the number of asylum seekers during the pandemic, many people crossed the border more than once, as there were no legal consequences when they were deported. So the number of people is less than the number of arrests.

Including the number of immigrants detained at border crossings, as well as the number of immigrants admitted from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela under a special program authorized by an executive order of the president, the figure rises to 8.7 million. The Customs and Border Protection Agency does not release its estimate of the number of people who escaped arrest.

Even accusations that illegal immigration has caused an increase in violent crime are unfounded. There have been recent announcements in the media about a number of serious crimes involving people who came to the US illegally, but without supporting the claim that the phenomenon is widespread. The FBI statistics do not disaggregate crime based on the immigration status of perpetrators, and there is no evidence of an increase in crime by immigrants, either along the US-Mexico border or in cities that have had the largest influx of immigrants, such as New York. York./ Voa