In the first and only presidential debate scheduled between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald TrumpHarris mentioned Trump’s name 38 times. Trump did not mention Harris’ name once.
The former president brought up inflation nine times, while Harris did so only twice. Trump called Harris “weak” five times, and she returned the insult four times.
CBS News analyzed the words used by both candidates during Tuesday night’s debate to determine the key themes and rhetoric they used to appeal to American voters ahead of the 2024 election. The analysis also compared the words used in that debate to those used in the June 27 debate between President Biden and TrumpHere’s what we found.
Break down words by topic
The debate began with a question about the economy, but Trump’s response focused primarily on immigration, a topic he returned to frequently throughout the evening. He said the word “border” 12 times. Thirty percent of the times Trump mentioned the word “people,” he was referring to immigrants.
Quoting repeatedly incorrect numbersTrump has used the term “million” or “millions” in reference to immigrants who have entered the United States on twelve occasions. On seventeen occasions, he has called these migrants “criminals” or referred to “crime” in the context of immigration.
When the candidates talked about the economy, Trump and Harris said “taxes,” “fees” or “tariffs” about the same number of times. Harris referred to “small businesses” or “businesses” seven times, a phrase Trump did not mention in either debate.
Trump focused on inflation, using the term nine times, the same number of times he did in the June debate. Harris mentioned it only twice, and once when she discussed the Inflation Reduction Act. Harris also made fewer references to “jobs” than Trump.
On the topic of abortion, Trump devoted time to late-term abortion and repeated the false statement Democrats, including vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, condone the killing of newborns. He used the word “baby” six times, while Harris’s remarks on abortion were more often about women’s bodily autonomy. In the context of abortion, she used the words “woman” or “women” seven times and “body” six times.
Examine how candidates spoke about each other
The candidates’ targeted attacks Tuesday night included Harris calling Trump a “disgrace” twice and Trump calling Harris a “Marxist,” echoing the nickname he gave her on social media, “Comrade Kamala.” He also called her a “border czar” three times, a term that was used by social media to refer to Kamala as the “Marxist.” overestimate its role in managing the country’s immigration policy.
One of the most frequently used words by the candidates was “weak.” Trump described Harris or Harris and Mr. Biden collectively as “weak” five times. He described Mr. Biden as “weak” once during the June debate and once on Tuesday. Harris called Trump or his actions “weak” four times.
Other insults used included “incompetent,” used by Trump four times, and “immoral” and “unreasonable” by Harris on both occasions.
