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Videos of Vice President Kamala Harris’ handshake with former President Donald Trump as the two candidates took the debate stage went viral on social media, with many users praising Harris’ action.
As Harris and Trump were introduced by the ABC News’ moderators and took the stage in Philadelphia Tuesday night, Harris walked directly toward Trump’s podium and reached out for a handshake. As Harris approached her Republican opponent, she introduced herself by name, and said, “Let’s have a good debate.” Trump responded by saying, “Good to see you, have fun.”
Tuesday is the first time that Harris and Trump have met face-to-face, and marks a pivotal moment in the already unprecedented 2024 race. It was also the first time that there was a handshake between presidential candidates since the 2016 campaign.
Harris was praised by several users on X, formerly Twitter, for approaching Trump as she entered the debate stage, with attorney Aaron Parnas posting shortly into the debate, “Kamala Harris going for the handshake is a power move.”
“Trump either wasn’t expecting the handshake or he didn’t want to do it,” wrote Jemele Hill, a contributing writer to the Atlantic. Progressive podcast host Kyle Kulinski added, “it looked like Trump didn’t want the handshake but Kamala went for it.”
“Aggressive pursuit of handshake=good,” said MSNBC host Jen Psaki.
Newsweek reached out to Harris and Trump’s campaigns via email for additional comment.
Harris appeared to hold the upper hand for much of the debate, pushing Trump on issues like abortion and the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, early into the night. While the vice president often turned to look toward Trump while answering the moderators’ questions, Trump mainly stared straight ahead, sometimes making eye contact with the camera.
Several X users also praised Harris’ performance early into the night, including CNN’s Abby Phillip, who wrote that the event “has been characterized by Kamala Harris dropping a lot of bait and Trump eagerly picking it up and rhetorically wandering around the room.”
“Kamala Harris is destroying Trump so far in this presidential debate,” added internet personality Brian Krassenstein.
“She’s looking at him with a combination of amusement and pity,” added Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols.
The former president often jumped between issues during his answers, and both candidates threw insults back and forth throughout the night, describing their opponent as a threat to the future of the country. Trump also repeatedly tied Harris to President Joe Biden’s administration and described the White House’s policies on foreign policy and immigration as “weak.”
Follow Newsweek’s live blog for updates on the presidential debate.