Lawmakers Share Reaction to First Presidential Debate

Image caption

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Erie News Now) -- Last night, 67 million people tuned in to watch the first debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. 

Both candidates clashed on a wide array of topics including the economy, global conflicts and abortion. 

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris exchanged several jabs throughout the 90-minute debate. Harris frequently attacked Trump for only looking out for himself and not for the American people. 

Trump on the other hand, attacked Harris on the last three-and-a-half years of the Biden Administration, and on the issues that have impacted Americans, like rising costs. 

Trump did face criticism after the debate for several claims he made, including one about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. City officials there say there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community. 

As expected, reaction to the debate has been partisan, with lawmakers from both parties saying their candidate out-performed the other. 

“I thought she did great,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D- PA) when asked about the Vice President’s debate performance. 

Some Republicans say Trump took the fight directly to Harris and applauded his performance. 

"President Trump took the fight to Kamala Harris and kind of laid out the case of the fact that she has been a failure at the border, she's been a failure on the economy and she did not really even come close to rectifying all of the flip flops on major positions that she had. I think it was a bad night for her and President Trump made the points he needed to make,” said Congressman Nick Langworthy (R- NY). 

After the debate, musician and pop culture icon Taylor swift announced she would be voting for Kamala Harris this November.