As Trump Links Her to Biden, Harris Says, ‘You’re Running Against Me’

After former President Donald J. Trump had tried several times during the debate to tie Vice President Kamala Harris to President Biden and his policies, she decided to try to make something abundantly clear.

“You’re not running against Joe Biden,” she told Mr. Trump. “You're running against me.”

Mr. Trump’s aides had hoped he would use the debate to persuade voters that Ms. Harris bore responsibility for the most unpopular aspects of Mr. Biden’s record, which they saw as a potentially potent line of attack at a moment when polls show voters are hungry for change. Mr. Trump repeatedly tried to link her to the president on inflation, immigration and Russia’s war in Ukraine, among other issues, but Ms. Harris largely deflected those attacks as she pressed her case against Mr. Trump.

At one point, as Mr. Trump was speaking about inflation, he tried to make the case again. “Remember this,” he said. “She is Biden.”

“Clearly, I am not Joe Biden,” Ms. Harris responded, “and I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.”

Sitting vice presidents who run for the top office often face questions about how much they will embrace or reject the administrations they serve. For much of the night, Ms. Harris brushed off salvos from Mr. Trump and questions from the moderators that would have required her to defend or distance herself from the Biden administration’s policies and positions.

Mr. Trump kept trying, though. He called Mr. Biden her “boss” several times, and when speaking about immigration he mentioned “people that she and Biden let into our country.”