Harris survives debate with Trump, gets Taylor Swift’s support

UNITED States Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris reportedly got the upperhand in her debate with former US leader and Republican rival Donald Trump in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, while getting a big boost from pop superstar Taylor Swift who declared support for her and vice presidential running mate Tim Walz.

The ABC News-hosted televised debate at the National Constitution Center saw Harris, 59, and Trump, 78, tackle abortion, employment, healthcare, foreign policy and immigration issues.

During an intense exchange on abortion, Trump insisted that while having pushed for the end of the federal right to abortion, he wanted individual states to make their own policy.

Harris said he was telling a "bunch of lies" and called his policies "insulting to the women of America."

On foreign policy, Harris told Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "eat you for lunch" when it came to the war in Ukraine and that world leaders were "laughing" at him.

Trump shot back by accusing Harris of being weak on the war in Gaza, saying she "hated Israel."

He talked about a debunked conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants have been eating local people's pet cats and dogs in Ohio — before being corrected by the moderator that authorities have said this didn't happen.

The former prosecutor pointed out that Trump is a convicted felon, called him "extreme" and said it is "a tragedy" that throughout his career he had used "race to divide the American people."

A CNN snap poll after the debate said Harris performed better than Trump by 63 percent to 37 percent of registered voters.

Meanwhile, Swift broke her silence on US politics minutes after the debate, with the following Instagram message: "I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election."

"I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them," Swift wrote. "I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos."

Fresh off the European leg of her blockbuster "Eras" tour, the 34-year-old balked at explicitly telling her ardent supporters to vote Harris, instead saying "I've done my research, and I've made my choice."

"Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make."

Her message — which received 5.3 million likes in a few hours — was signed off "childless cat lady" in a jibe at an insult Trump's running mate J.D. Vance directed at Democrat-supporting women.