Shortly after going head to head in a heated debate, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump briefly buried their political hatchet on Wednesday with a handshake during a ceremony at New York’s 9/11 memorial. It was a solemn moment, hours after a combative presidential debate in which Harris, the Democratic vice president, and Trump, the Republican former president, clashed on everything from the economy and climate change to Ukraine and Immigration. The handshake at Ground Zero-a rare display of unity-is likely to prove short-lived as the U.S. presidential election nears.
Debate Clash: The previous night, there was a heated debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It was watched by 57.5 million viewers. At the Philadelphia-held debate, Harris was able to force Trump into a defensive position on several critical issues, including abortion. An apparently frustrated 78-year-old Trump hollered that the debate process was “rigged” for Harris. This followed moments in the debate where some of Trump’s false claims were corrected by the moderators.
While he griped about that, Trump later indicated he would be willing to have more debates, though his initial reaction was closer to “Why would I do a rematch?”.
9/11 Memorial Unity After Debate: The tone was decidedly different when the two candidates joined at the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York. They were also joined by 81-year-old President Joe Biden as the two of them shared in a rare moment of unity at the site where almost 3,000 lives were lost in the 2001 terrorist attacks. Wearing blue ribbons in commemoration, Harris, Trump, and Biden stood in somber silence as the victims’ names were read aloud.
Kamala Harris spoke directly to the point of the moment when she said, “We stand in solidarity with their families and loved ones. We also honor the extraordinary heroism on display that fateful day by ordinary Americans helping their fellow Americans.”
Biden afterwards travelled to Pennsylvania to pay respects to the victims of the hijacked plane which crashed in Shanksville. Trump joined memorial events later in the day. The president briefly donned a red “Trump 2024” hat, handed to him by a supporter – an image generating buzz online – but the White House framed it as one of unity.
Election Tensions Remain High: While respectful on the ground at the 9/11 memorial, the election race is very competitive between Harris and Trump. The debate was seen by many as a win for Harris; a CNN snap poll showed that 63% of viewers believed she did a better job in the debate than Trump’s 37%. The same feeling came from a YouGov poll, finding Harris gave a clearer vision for the future on 43% to 32% for Trump.
Harris effectively touched a nerve in the debate, especially on topics such as abortion, and she was repeatedly able to get Trump to respond emotionally by citing the grievances that he has already articulated while in office. In one viral moment, he repeated a debunked claim of migrants eating people’s pets in Ohio; the moderator called out the claim for a fact-check.
But analysts say the deeply polarized electorate will likely remain just that, even in the face of Harris’s strong showing. The debate probably changed few minds, each side being largely among their own.
The road ahead: The next couple of weeks are crucial since both candidates will be working up until heavy campaigning in the key swing states. Harris has scheduled plans to visit North Carolina, and Trump is expected to take the stage in Arizona. In addition to these states, there are a number of other states that will really give them an explanation of which candidate will come out on top.
Harris got a big lift from pop superstar Taylor Swift, who tweeted her endorsement of the Democratic candidate just minutes after the debate. Trump shot back that Swift would “probably pay a price for it in the marketplace,” but the nod from the music mega-star could fire up younger voters.
A moment of unity between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump at the 9/11 memorial contrasted with a frenzied political climate around a presidential election coming in 2024. With less than eight weeks to go, both candidates still work side by side to be ahead of a competition at a neck-and-neck pace. The presidency doesn’t seem to give way at all, since with rising tensions, the stakes grow higher.