The American public has now had some time to digest the presidential nominees Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump first debate together as opponents in the presidential election. Hosted at the National Constitution Center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the two candidates showed no signs of brotherly love for this outing.

Broadcasted and hosted by ABC with moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, the debate was, in my opinion, better than the 2020 debates and the earlier debate in 2024 with President Joe Biden, but still had bad qualities from both parties attempting to represent America.

The majority of the fallout of the debate, I believe, has to do with the importance of fact-checking presidential candidates. In a story written by the New York Post titled, “ABC’s David Muir sees newscast ratings tank after his controversial debate moderating,” which was written by Brian Flood and published onSept. 17, is quoted in saying, “Davis admitted in a post-debate interview that her fact-checking of Trump was influenced by the CNN debate. ‘People were concerned that statements were allowed to just hang and not [be] disputed by the candidate Biden, at the time, or the moderators,’ Davis told the Los Angeles Times last week.” 

Included in the article was ABC News’ Martha Raddatz who noted that Harris was also factually incorrect during her side of the debate when she said that, “not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world.” Raddatz soon went on to explain that the moderators should have corrected the vice president that there are American soldiers in active combat zones. 

“There are currently 900 US military personnel in Syria, 2,500 US troops in Iraq. All have been under regular threat from drones and missiles for months. The country also has action in the Red Sea. To add to that, every single day, the Navy SEAL’s, Delta Forces special operators can be part of any sort of deadly raid” according to the New York Post.

Fact-checking is one very important factor of debating, however, sometimes it can be out of the control of moderators and the opponents, leading to Americans needing to have knowledge of current events instead of being told by social media or their preferred political representative. 

Statements made by each political figure had some context that was left out and was never given or previous actions that are not publicly well-known. One statement that stood out to me was when Harris said, “Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.” Although the statement is not incorrect, some context is needed. 

“The claim is partly false. During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. unemployment rate jumped from 3.5 percent in February 2020 to 14.8 percent by April 2020. While this is the highest single-month rate recorded since at least 1948, when the modern unemployment measure was adopted, the rate dropped to 6.2 percent by the time Trump left office” According to The Dispatch, “Fact-Checking the Harris-Trump ABC News Debate,” written by Alex Demas and Peter Gattuso, published on Sept. 11, 2024).

For Trump, similar statements were made. Both parties made false statements for all debate topics, according to The Dispatch, which I wish I could give an opinion on, but I didn’t listen that closely to catch everything.

I watched the debate in full through NBC’s coverage. Seeing both candidates shake hands early on, no matter who initiated it or not, was a sign of relief for me. Both candidates had more respect for each other than in previous debates, as mentioned before, and overall it was a successful debate in my opinion. Giving first sight of how the Harris administration would act for much of the nation, including myself, was helpful and seeing how Trump reacted to those statements continues to help form ideas of the debate, election and overall presidency.

Although Trump has said to many news outlets and reporters that he will not participate in another presidential debate, I believe another debate would be beneficial to both parties, and steer a message more toward the younger generation for which this debate should be the focus.

Overall, not the best debate. Not the worst either. However, this isn’t the end. Voting for the 47 president of the United States begins on Nov. 5. For coverage, be sure to tune into Channel 14 or WCTV’s YouTube for WCTV’s Election Coverage Special.