The anticipation was palpable as the lights dimmed just after 8 p.m. Tuesday in Indiana University Northwest’s Raintree Hall. Dozens of Gary residents filled the lecture hall, eyes fixed on the screen for the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
In her first-ever debate as a presidential nominee, Harris faced off against a seasoned Trump, who entered his seventh. Throughout the night, Harris emphasized her middle-class background and proposed a $6,000 child tax credit and a $50,000 deduction for small-business startups. Trump, defending his economic policies, promised tariffs to boost American industries and bring back jobs. Audience reactions ranged from laughter to groans, making for an eventful watch party.
Darian Collins was a vocal voice in the crowd throughout the debate’s 96 minutes. She said she was initially upset when President Joe Biden dropped out because she was afraid that the country was not ready for a woman to take on the White House. But tonight’s debate changed that.
“I am so glad to see what I saw tonight,” Collins said. “She was strong, she was smart. All of these people are talking about how she won’t do interviews.”
Steve Mays, president of Gary’s NAACP chapter, said he was pleased to see so many in the community congregating to watch the debate. “We’re always hoping to see more and more young people involved in this process,” Mays said. “Politics is local, and events like these are where it starts.”
Tariffs became a point of contention when a moderator pressed Harris about the Biden administration’s decision to keep some of Trump’s tariffs in place. Her response didn’t sit well with Kourtney Ross and Tone Ross, a married couple who muttered their frustrations with both candidate’s inability to answer questions directly from the back row of the IUN lecture hall.
“I think it’s unfortunate that President Trump has not answered any of the questions that have been asked, and he has been deflecting and blaming,” Tone Ross said.
Kourtney Ross agreed, adding that Harris also fell short. “I kind of feel halfway the same way about Kamala Harris,” she said. “It was a question about tariffs, right?” But she pivoted and “went into something else.”
She did acknowledge Harris’ clarity on women’s rights, though. “I appreciated how clear she was on abortion rights. Very, very clear. There is no confusion about that.”
On Trump, she was more critical. “I have not got one ounce of clarity, even on issues he seems most passionate about. This was his time to shine, and he didn’t take it.”
ABC moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis began with the topic of the economy, an opportunity Harris took to immediately pivot and lay out portions of her “opportunity economy” plan.
“I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America,” Harris said. “I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people.”
Harris also accused Trump of proposing more tax cuts for billionaires while juxtaposing her plan with what she labeled as the “Trump sales tax,” which she says would feature a 20% tax on everyday goods and cost families an additional $4,000 a month.
Trump, on the defensive, responded by denying the sales tax and pivoting to his intention to enact tariffs.
“Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world. And the tariff will be substantial in some cases. I took in billions and billions of dollars, as you know, from China,” Trump said.
Trump struggled to give a clear position on abortion, leading to one of his most controversial statements of the night. Davis pressed him on his shifting stance regarding Florida’s six-week abortion ban, which he initially supported before changing his position a day later.
“Well, the reason I’m doing that vote is because the plan is, as you know, the vote is, they have abortion in the ninth month. They even have, and you can look at the governor of West Virginia, the previous governor of West Virginia, not the current governor, who’s doing an excellent job, but the governor before. He said the baby will be born and we will decide what to do with the baby. In other words, we’ll execute the baby,” Trump said.
Davis swiftly fact-checked him in real-time, which attendee Collins appreciated, noting it wasn’t present during Biden’s debate with Trump.
“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” Davis corrected, drawing applause and laughter from the audience.
Collins said that she expects fact-checking will be helpful for those who need the facts to make the decisions for themselves.
“I’m hoping that this will be a good tool of analysis for people on where they want to go and what they want to do,” she said.
Throughout the night, Trump spewed numerous false claims, including his unfounded assertion that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Ohio, which prompted firm corrections from moderator David Muir.
“I just want to clarify here, you bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” Muir replied.
James Wallace, dressed in IUN cream and crimson, co-hosted the event alongside the Northwest Indiana Urban League Young Professionals. He was pleased to see nearly 60 people in the lecture hall, choosing to watch the debate together rather than from home.
Looking out at the crowd, Wallace said that while some voters might remain unswayed by the debate, the strong turnout gave him “somewhat hopeful” feelings.
“We want people to get education about the issues that impact our community. And that’s really why we were pleased to host it in this space for the folks to come together,” he said.
As director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs, Wallace noted the debate stirred a range of emotions, from Harris’ personal stories to Trump’s attacks on her multicultural identity.
“We have settled into this space as a nation looking for viral moments and not necessarily substance,” Wallace said with a sigh. “The division we face as a community is something we have to overcome.”
