in a highstakes debate between Donald Trump and kamla Harris Trump accused Democrats of inciting an assassination attempt against him and described them as a threat to democracy he also dismissed the criminal charges against him as politically motivated by democrats Harris criticized Trump's handling of National Security economic issues and his legal troubles asserting that Trump was more focused on defending himself than the American people they clashed on key issues including abortion rights immigration China policy and the economy with Harris labeling Trump as self-serving while Trump called Harris a Marxist the debate was moderated by ABC with no live audience present