Presidential elections in the United States: Who won the debate, Trump or Kamala?

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris faced off this Tuesday night in the first televised debate of the campaign for the White House, held at ABC News studios in Philadelphia.

Amid the polarization characterizing the 2024 U.S. elections, major media outlets in the country are beginning to gather analyses from experts, opinions, and polls to determine who emerged as the "winner" of the debate.

The first reactions captured on their online front pages agree that the Democratic candidate kept Trump "on the defensive" with her "provocative" speech, managing to unbalance and make the Republican candidate nervous.

"Harris keeps Trump on the defensive," published the Washington Post website minutes after the debate ended. For its part, the New York Times also highlighted that the vice president put the former president on the defensive by pointing to his legal issues and his handling of the pandemic.

The Miami Herald also reported on Harris's harassment of Trump and noted that the former president amplified "false information," such as the claim about Haitian immigrants allegedly kidnapping and eating pets in Ohio, a statement that has led to the appearance of countless memes on social media.

CNN's digital edition stated in its headline that Kamala was provoking Trump in a "controversial" debate, while the Chicago Tribune reported that the candidates presented different views for the country on issues such as: abortion, immigration, and American democracy.

NBC News focused on the "conspiracy theories" that, according to this media outlet, Trump spread, as well as the heated debate that both candidates had about abortion.

One of the few outlets that positioned Trump as the winner of the debate was Fox News, which highlighted that the Republican "managed to turn the situation around with Vice President Harris," although voices within the network remarked that "Trump had a very bad night."

The first televised debate between Harris and Trump leveled the playing field in an election that began in the worst possible way for the Democrats, who suffered the humiliation of seeing President Biden defeated in a debate that marked the end of his re-election hopes and the nomination of Harris as a candidate capable of turning around the polls and preventing a second term for the Republican.