On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the Center for Social Change and Community Involvement (CSCCI) hosted a debate watch party in the Council Chambers. Most of the room’s seats were filled with students overflowing to the floor in front of the screen, with the CSCCI counting roughly 240 attendees. A reporter from local news station KOIN 6, Ariel Iacobazzi, was present at the screening, interviewing students before and after watching.
The debate-watching event was part of the “Lewis & Clark College Civic and Democratic Engagement Action Plan 2024,” an initiative for getting students to vote and become more politically engaged. Their long-term goal is to have an 80% voter turnout of LC students. CSCCI is planning on hosting more events throughout the current election season. More information can be found at “Voter and Civic Engagement Information” on the LC website.
The event opened with a land acknowledgment and an invitation for students to join an online chatroom hosted by the RHMS department to discuss the debate in real-time.
The debate started with its first issue: the cost of living in America. Vice President Harris started off, emphasizing her plan to “lift up the middle class” and create an “opportunity economy” through tax cuts for young families and small, startup businesses.
“I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people,” said Harris. “We know that we have a shortage of homes and housing, and the cost of housing is too expensive for far too many people. We know that young families need support to raise their children. And I intend on extending a tax cut for those families of $6,000, which is the largest child tax credit that we have given in a long time.”
She also claimed that under former President Trump’s economic plan, additional tariffs would amount to what Harris described as a “national sales tax,” which would fall primarily on the shoulders of the middle class.
Trump rebutted this point, claiming that he would be gathering tariffs from China and other countries and not from the people of the United States.
“We’re doing tariffs on other countries. Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world,” Trump said. “And the tariff will be substantial … I took in billions and billions of dollars, as you know, from China.”
Harris proceeded to mention the economic policies listed in Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation initiative outlining potential conservative policy plans to be enacted should a Conservative take office in January. Trump denied any involvement in the creation of Project 2025, attempting to distance himself from the plan and remain outwardly indifferent to the policies.
“I have nothing to do with Project 2025. That’s out there. I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposely. I’m not going to read it,” Trump said. “This was a group of people that got together, they came up with some ideas. I guess some good, some bad.”
Both candidates exchanged jabs at one another. “Look at his tweet,” Harris said, in regard to Trump’s tweet thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping for how he handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everybody knows she’s a Marxist,” Trump said in regards to Harris’ political and economic philosophy, claiming that “she has no policy.”
The third issue, abortion rights, got the LC students’ attention, eliciting groans among the crowd at its announcement. Trump started off, exclaiming that “they have abortion in the ninth month,” then claiming that the former Virginian Governor Ralph Northam had said, “the baby will be born and … we’ll execute the baby.” NBC has debunked this claim, giving a completely different context to Northam’s words — he was referring to the resuscitation of babies with severe birth defects. After this claim, the moderators stepped in to clarify that “there is no state in the country where it is legal to kill a baby.” The Council Chambers were filled with laughter. Harris continued the debate by emphasizing her pro-choice stance on abortion.
“A survivor of a crime, a violation to their body, does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next. That is immoral,” said Harris. “The government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.”
Students could be heard sighing and even laughing out loud at times throughout the debate. The fourth issue discussed was immigration, where Trump said in reference to a conspiracy theory regarding Haitian immigrants in Ohio: “They’re eating the cats.” Trump was again fact-checked by the moderators on this, informing him that there have been no reports of harmed pets in Springfield.
LC students were particularly interested in the candidates’ thoughts on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Harris started off by defending Israel’s right to self-defense, citing the Hamas attack of Oct. 7.
“On October 7, Hamas, a terrorist organization, slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. Many of them young people who were simply attending a concert,” Harris said. “Women were horribly raped. And so absolutely, I said then, I say now, Israel has a right to defend itself … And how it does so matters. Because it is also true that far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
Her stance afterward stayed relatively neutral, emphasizing the need for peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
“What we know is that this war must end. It must end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal and we need the hostages out … We must chart a course for a two-state solution,” Harris said.
Trump’s argument revolved mainly around hypothetical “If I were President” statements, essentially claiming that the conflict would never have occurred in the first place, quickly pivoting to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
“If I were president, it would have never started. If I were president, Russia would have never, ever — I know Putin very well,” Trump said. “He would have never … gone into Ukraine and killed millions of people when you add it up.”
Harris’ closing statement summarized her previously-mentioned points.
“So I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country. One that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past,” said Harris. “I will be a president that will protect our fundamental rights and freedoms including the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.”
Trump’s statement made the point that Harris has not made the changes that she is promising to make, despite her opportunities over the last four years. He also re-emphasized his fears regarding the presence of illegal immigrants in America.
“She’s been there for 3 1/2 years. They’ve had 3 1/2 years to fix the border. They’ve had 3 1/2 years to create jobs and all the things we talked about. Why hasn’t she done it?” said Trump. “We’re a failing nation. We’re a nation that’s in serious decline. We’re being laughed at all over the world. What these people have done to our country, and maybe toughest of all is allowing millions of people to come into our country, many of them are criminals, and they’re destroying our country.”
The event in the Council Chambers ended with a panel of RHMS professors explaining candidate tactics and performance, and answering questions from the students in attendance.
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