By Ben Johnson, The Washington Times
Vice President Kamala Harris promised
a presidency that “brings values” that demean pro-life laws protecting unborn
children as “immoral,” while endorsing a national abortion expansion during a
poorly moderated debate with former President Donald Trump. Trump, meanwhile,
seemed to scuttle reports that he would veto any and all national pro-life laws
that reach his desk as president.
The two presidential hopefuls faced
off at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday night in a
90-minute debate remembered more for the words of its moderators than its
participants. David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News repeatedly contradicted
Trump while allowing Harris to get by with numerous lies and falsehoods uncorrected.
Although the rules called for the candidates’ microphones to be muted between
questions, both candidates repeatedly spoke out of turn. In all, Trump spoke
for 42 minutes, while Harris talked for 37 minutes.
Although Trump debated President Joe
Biden on June 27 — a performance so discrediting that Biden bowed out of the
presidential race on July 21 and coronated Harris as his hand-picked successor
— he and Harris never debated before. Harris awkwardly introduced herself by
name at the beginning of the debate.
Abortion came up early in the debate,
as Harris defended the death-inflicting procedure as compatible with her morals
and insisted the death of innocents does not violate any religion. Harris
claimed, after the 2022 Dobbs decision, “now in over 20 states there are Trump
abortion bans which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health
care” — by which she meant bans on taking the life of an innocent person
through abortion. She blasted those which do not allow abortionists to kill an
innocent child conceived in rape, who did nothing to deserve the death penalty.
“That is immoral,” Harris
pontificated.
Harris, who boasted she “brings
values” to the White House, then repeated one of the many shopworn phrases she
said during the debate: “One does not have to abandon their faith or
deeply held beliefs to agree the government, and Donald Trump certainly, should
not be telling a woman what to do with her body.” Christians have held that
abortion violates their faith, and should be illegal, for 2,000 years. Orthodox Jews also say
they hold a pro-life faith.
The Satanic Temple regards abortion as
a sacrament.
As she has throughout the campaign,
Harris promised to impose abortion on all 50 states by
force. “I pledge to you when Congress passes a bill to put back in place
the protections of Roe v. Wade as
president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said.
“But, understand, if Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban. Understand, in his
Project 2025, there would be a national abortion ban.”
The Biden-Harris administration has
endorsed a bill that goes beyond Roe, allowing abortion until birth nationwide.
The Democratic Party platform also supports taxpayer-funded abortions in the
United States and around the world.
President Trump countered that her
party’s view lies far outside the American mainstream. “The Democrats are
radical” on abortion, replied Trump. Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Governor
Tim Walz, “says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine.” Last January,
Walz signed the Protection of Reproductive
Options (PRO) Act, which allows unlimited abortion-on-demand until birth. The
Minnesota governor also removed a requirement that babies born alive during
botched abortions receive potentially life-saving care. He also increased
government payments to abortionists, curtailed funding for pro-life pregnancy
resource centers, and rescinded a requirement that abortionists adequately
inform mothers about the possibly life-threatening procedure they’re about to
undergo.
Trump cited comments from Democrats
that abortionists could allow an infant born alive during a botched abortion to
die without medical treatment. Liberals support “execution after birth,” added
Trump. “That’s not okay with me.”
ABC’s Linsey Davis promptly inserted a
comment that such procedures are already illegal, and Harris erroneously stated
that late-term abortions do not take place. However, the Biden-Harris
administration’s CDC reports tens of thousands of abortions after 21 weeks, and
an unknown number of children are born alive during botched abortions.
“State-level abortion reporting statistics from nine states show that at least
277 infants have survived abortion since 2006,” according to a
new report from Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human
Dignity at Family Research Council — and that only accounts for eight states’
fatalities.
Trump attempted to thread the needle,
boasting of his role in overturning Roe v. Wade while seemingly foreclosing any
future federal pro-life protections. “I did a great service” in appointing
three of the six justices who overturned Roe v. Wade in the June 2022 Dobbs
decision, because now the issue of abortion is “not tied up in the federal
government,” he said.
Trump made news when asked if he would
veto any national pro-life legislation that reached his desk, as his running
mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (R), had said. “I didn’t discuss it with J.D.,”
Trump replied. “I think he was speaking for me, but I really didn’t.” He said
there is no need to discuss a veto, because national abortion legislation would
“never get the vote” necessary to pass Congress.
Polls show a vast majority of
Americans oppose overseas funding of abortion and late-term abortion, which
remains legal — and practiced — across the United States. Congressional
majorities may emerge on both issues after the November election. Trump reiterated
his support for abortion in cases of rape and incest, and seemed content to
leave the issue up to the states.
“This is an issue that’s torn our
country apart for 52 years,” said Trump of abortion. “It’s the vote of the
people now.”
Harris successfully ducked the
question. “Would you support any restrictions on a woman’s right to an
abortion?” asked Davis.
“I absolutely support reinstating
the protections of Roe v. Wade,” she replied,
which would allow abortions through all nine months of pregnancy. She then
facetiously denied late-term abortions took place. “Nowhere in America is a
woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not
happening,” Harris falsely stated.
The debate featured Harris in
prosecutorial mode, focused on her attack lines and frequently baiting the 45th
president into discussing niche issues that turned off swing voters in the
suburbs, such as Harris’s biracial identity, the 2020 election outcome, the
January 6 riot, and the size of his crowds. Harris largely managed to wiggle
out of uncomfortable questions without any scrutiny from the moderators.
Trump did score points on numerous
issues and clearly shellshocked Harris when she accused him of being a threat
to the American form of government.
“It’s up to the American people to
stop him,” Harris said.
“I probably took a bullet to the head
because of the things that they say about me,” replied Trump, referring to
a near-fatal assassination attempt on
the other side of Pennsylvania on July 13.
Moderator David Muir promptly cut
Trump off. “We have a lot to get to,” Muir interrupted.
At times, the debate seemed more
between Trump and the moderators than Harris. Numerous commentators referred to
the spectacle as a “three-on-one” debate. “I am absolutely disgusted by what we
just witnessed,” said Greg Kelly of Newsmax immediately after the debate. CNN
contributor David Urban noted that the “moderators have their thumb on the
scale.”
The Harris campaign was so satisfied
with the outcome that it has reportedly floated the possibility of holding a
second debate with Trump. The president told Sean Hannity that the Harris team
is asking for a rematch “because she lost.” Republican presidential candidates
have typically not fared well during the first debate: Ronald Reagan did poorly
in 1984. Michael Dukakis was believed to defeat George H.W. Bush in 1988.
George W. Bush stammered his way to a tie with John Kerry in 2004. And Donald
Trump did not score a knockout punch in his first 2016 debate against Hillary
Clinton.
All rebounded in the second debate en
route to winning the presidential election in November.
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