In a striking contrast, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump put aside their differences to attend the same 9/11 memorial service, just hours after their intense first debate in the 2024 US presidential election.
The 90-minute debate saw both candidates clash on policy issues and engage in personal attacks.
Harris took a jab at Trump's rally attendance, saying that people often leave early due to "exhaustion and boredom." Trump retaliated by claiming that nobody attends Harris's rallies in the first place. The former president criticized Harris's record on immigration and border control, as well as her shifting policy stances. Harris fired back by accusing Trump of being responsible for "Trump abortion bans" and the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol.
Despite Trump's claims that Harris "lost very badly," snap polls suggest she emerged victorious from the debate. However, the former president appeared defensive according to BBC during a Fox News interview the next morning, criticizing the moderators and refusing to commit to participating in another debate.
With the election slated for November 5, Harris holds a slight lead in national opinion polls. Nevertheless, key battleground states remain tightly contested, indicating fierce competition ahead. As the campaign season heats up, both candidates will likely continue to exchange blows and tout their policies to win over undecided voters.
Voters in the US go to the polls on 5 November to elect their next president.The election was initially a rematch of 2020 but it was upended in July when President Joe Biden ended his campaign and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris.
BBC reports that in the months leading up to Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, polls consistently showed him trailing former president Trump. Although hypothetical at the time, several polls suggested Harris wouldn’t fare much better.
The race however tightened after she hit the campaign trail and she developed a small lead over her rival in an average of national polls that she has maintained since. The latest national polling averages for the two candidates are shown below, rounded to the nearest whole number.
The poll tracker chart as indicated by BBC states that the trend lines show how those averages have changed since Harris entered the race and the dots show the spread of the individual poll results.
Harris hit 47% during her party’s four-day convention in Chicago, which she brought to a close on 22 August with a speech promising a "new way forward" for all Americans. Her numbers have moved very little since then.
Trump’s average has also remained relatively steady, hovering around 44%, and there was no significant boost from the endorsement of Robert F Kennedy, who ended his independent candidacy on 23 August.
