Trump reverts to old tactics and talking points as Harris focuses on policy to start their 2024 debate

Donald Trump repeated false claims about abortion, amplified conspiracy theories and grew frustrated and defensive over discussion of his rally crowd sizes in a series of flailing responses in thefirst, and potentially last, presidential debate with Kamala Harris.

In their highly anticipated matchup in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the former president repeated discredited claims about immigrants stealing and eating pets, falsely stated that abortion patients are killing their children after they are born, and steamed over Harris’s accusations that his supporters are leaving his long-winded rallies “exhausted and bored.”

The first-ever face-to-face meeting between the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates on Tuesday night presented starkly different visions of America’s future, with Harris pitching to voters an opportunity to leave Trump in the past and to instead “build on the aspirations and hopes of the American people.”

“Let’s talk about what Donald Trump left us,” said Harris, listing the “worst unemployment since the Great Depression,” the “worst public health epidemic in a century,” and “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War” following a Trump-fueled mob’s attempt to overturn 2020’s election results.

“What we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess,” she said.

His debate appearance pulls from the “same old tired playbook — a bunch of lies, grievances and name calling,” Harris said.

Trump, meanwhile, raged against inflation that he characterized as “the worst in our nation’s history” while baselessly asserting millions of immigrants are “pouring in” and “coming in and taking jobs that are occupied now by African Americans” and union workers.

He said immigrants are “taking over buildings…