Debate day in Arizona: Taylor Swift endorses Harris minutes after event ends

Many Americans were glued to their screens as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off in what likely would be their only debate before the Nov. 5 presidential election.

In swing state Arizona — where all of the polls say the race was close — we got to experience the campaign in person as well as on our favorite devices.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, made his first solo visit to Arizona on Tuesday, ending with a packed rally in Mesa shortly before the debate began.

On Thursday, Trump was scheduled to appear in Tucson for an afternoon speech focused on the economy and the high cost of housing. The Harris-Walz campaign announced second gentleman Douglas Emhoff also was going to Tucson on Thursday.

Follow politics coverage from Arizona Republic and USA TODAY Network reporters on azcentral.com throughout the 2024 campaign.

Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris shortly after debate ends

Taylor Swift is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election, the pop star revealed Tuesday night after the presidential debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump.

In an Instagram post shared after the debate, Swift wrote in a caption of a photo of her with her cat that she "will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz."

"I'm voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades," she wrote.

Swift's endorsement was posted just a few minutes after the debate ended. She also urged fans to register to vote.

During her 18-year career, Swift has so far publicly endorsed only three candidates, including Biden in the 2020 race for president.

— Anika Reed and Bryan West, USA TODAY

Fact check: Violent crime is down nationwide and in Phoenix

Donald Trump alluded to rising crime and violent crime, attributing a portion of that to people in the United States illegally.

The COVID-19 pandemic boosted crime rates, which surged nationally between 2019 and 2020, according to FBI data. Homicides rose about 30% in that time.

Phoenix ended 2022 with a violent crime rate that set a 20-year record and the highest homicide rate in 14 years.

But by the end of 2023, the city saw a sharp 14.3% drop in the property crime rate and a 4.7% drop in the violent crime rate, according to Phoenix Police Department data.

The rest of the country also saw decreases in crime last year, according to quarterly data reported by the FBI with a sample of over 175 cities. The data covered crime reported from January to September 2023 and included projections for the rest of the year.

Criminologist and data analyst Jeff Asher analyzed the FBI data and reported that the country was positioned to see record-breaking decreases in 2023, with a 12% drop in the murder rate, the largest drop ever recorded, and a 4% drop in violent crime as a whole, which would lead to the lowest violent crime rate since 1969.

Crime experts have said the drops suggest a leveling off of crime to pre-pandemic levels, as more people have returned to their usual routines.

— Miguel Torres

Candidates touch on climate issues, clean energy, fossil fuels

The candidates were asked how they would address climate change if elected to the White House, a topic particularly important to young voters.

Kamala Harris referred to Donald Trump's previous statements calling climate change a hoax, acknowledged Americans who are impacted by extreme weather and outlined the Biden-Harris administration’s track record on environmental policy.

“I am proud that as vice president over the last four years, we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy while we have also increased domestic gas production to historic levels,” Harris said.

She correlated climate policy to creating manufacturing jobs and investing in American-made products and automobiles.

Trump did not respond to the question, instead focusing on manufacturing jobs and the auto industry and disparaging Biden’s track record with China. He said he would place a tariff on foreign vehicles to support domestic autoworkers.

During his closing statement, Trump reinforced his position that fracking and fossil fuels are essential to making America strong.

Hayleigh Evans

Actress Kate Walsh stumps for Harris on debate night

Actress Kate Walsh, who played an OB/GYN on the hit television show "Grey’s Anatomy," has promoted the Harris campaign’s support for abortion rights.

Walsh visited a debate watch party in Phoenix organized by the Harris campaign.

In remarks delivered after the debate, Walsh said she relied on Planned Parenthood at a time when she didn’t have health care.

“This literally is a life or death election,” Walsh said, pointing to “reproductive rights,” and “gun violence in schools.”

Laura Gersony

Trump criticizes Affordable Care Act but doesn’t offer alternative

Donald Trump reiterated his criticism of the Affordable Care Act but was not specific about what should replace it.

Trump said when he was in office, he saved the Affordable Care Act. He said it was never going to be great and wanted a plan that would "be better" than the ACA, which is also known as "Obamacare."

Harris said Trump repeatedly tried to get rid of the ACA and revisited the late Sen. John McCain's watershed moment when the Arizona Republican voted against repealing it.

"Access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it," Harris said.

— Stephanie Innes

Trump’s rhetoric ‘makes everyone less intelligent,’ one Democrat reacts

At a debate watch party organized by the Harris campaign, the word “weird” bounced around the room as Trump concluded a rambling answer that began with praise for Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, and ended with a claim that President Joe Biden “hates” Harris.

Chase Kerby, a Democrat who lives in Chandler, grumbled intermittently as Trump and Harris went back and forth.

“I’ve heard enough of his lies … and frankly, listening to his answers makes everyone less intelligent for having heard them,” Kerby said.

“Most of what he has to say is only interpretable through a terminally online, Fox News lens.”

Earlier in the debate, Trump repeated bogus claims about immigrants eating pets that went viral online ahead of the debate. The claims were promoted by several prominent Republicans, and the Arizona Republican Party, despite being factually baseless.

“If I was live tweeting this, I’d have carpal tunnel already,” Kerby added.

— Laura Gersony

Who won the 2020 election? Trump doesn’t acknowledge Biden victory

Donald Trump again denied the results of the 2020 presidential race, falsely claiming there was "so much proof" of fraud in the contest.

"All you have to do is look at it," he said.

His comments came years after he and his allies made unfounded claims of voting fraud, spurring a wave of election denialism across the nation.

Arizona, a crucial swing state, became the epicenter of those conspiracies. State and local election officials have long experienced threats and harassment connected to the claims.

Trump didn't directly mention the state throughout his response to moderators' questions on Tuesday about the election results. But he did echo baseless allegations that noncitizens are voting in large numbers and could sway the upcoming election, a claim that has contributed to legal challenges over Arizona's voter registration laws.

Kamala Harris said Trump was "confused about fact." Liberals up and down the ballot have heavily criticized GOP candidates over election denialism claims in recent years. In Arizona, Republican candidates who have echoed voting conspiracies have repeatedly lost statewide contests.

"The American people deserve better," Harris said.

Sasha Hupka

Would Harris ban oil fracking? She says no

Kamala Harris was asked to address concerns that she had changed her position on various policies, including a proposed a ban on oil fracking.

During her previous presidential campaign in 2019, Harris said she would prohibit fracking if elected, but she has since rejected a total ban.

“My values have not changed,” Harris said.” “I will not ban fracking, I have not banned fracking as vice president of the United States.”

She said she wants to invest in diverse energy sources to reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil imports.

Harris cited her track record with approving the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022  — the most expansive environmental legislation in the nation’s history — and the largest increase in domestic oil production in the U.S. during the Biden-Harris administration.

Trump supports expanding domestic oil production and questioned Harris’ willingness to allow drilling.

“She will never allow fracking in Pennsylvania. If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one,” Trump responded.

“Oil will be dead, fossil fuels will be dead. We’ll go back to windmills and we’ll go back to solar.”

Hayleigh Evans

COVID-19 resurfaces as a debate issue

Donald Trump says he did a "phenomenal job" during the pandemic.

However, there's evidence that the U.S. public suffered due to misinformation under Trump's pandemic leadership. In 2020 he falsely claimed during a White House briefing that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved the drug chloroquine as a "very powerful" drug to treat COVID-19, which at that time was still known as coronavirus.

Days after Trump mentioned the treatment, an Arizona couple ingested non-medication chloroquine phosphate in hopes of preventing coronavirus. The man died and his wife became critically ill. The couple was in their 60s, officials with Banner Health told The Arizona Republic at the time.

Trump also downplayed the seriousness of the COVID-19 virus and held rallies, including at the Dream City Church in Phoenix, where most of those in attendance at his June 2020 event did not wear face masks. Trump spoke for 90 minutes at the event and barely mentioned COVID-19. Weeks later, cases and deaths due to COVID-19 in Arizona soared.

The U.S. had more COVID-19 deaths than any other country during the pandemic, and while some of that is due to its large population, some critics point to misinformation, a lack of federal leadership and Trump's lack of international cooperation in getting vaccines to the developing world.

Trump in 2020 announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the World Health Organization. His  administration suspended financial support to the WHO, which was a huge change from its prior role with the organization. Under the Biden administration, U.S. relations with the WHO were restored, as was funding to the WHO.

Stephanie Innes

Anti-Trump Republican awaits Trump missteps

Cliff Dawson was the rare Republican in attendance at a watch party in Phoenix organized by the Harris campaign.

Dawson has always been a registered Republican, although he has been willing to vote across party lines. He said he picked former President Barack Obama over the late Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2008, has never voted for Trump and would never vote for a GOP candidate who was an “election denier.”

He said his top issue as a voter was “democracy” and believes Trump, who has been convicted on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records, was running for office “to stay out of jail.”

He said he didn’t expect to learn anything from Tuesday evening’s debate. Rather he was eagerly awaiting missteps by Trump.

“I want to see some self-incrimination,” Dawson said.

— Laura Gersony

Kamala Harris supporters watch the debate between the vice president and former President Donald Trump at a watch party in Phoenix organized by the Harris campaign.
Kamala Harris supporters watch the debate between the vice president and former President Donald Trump at a watch party in Phoenix organized by the Harris campaign.

Trump attacks migrants: 'They're destroying our country'

Donald Trump wasted no time talking about immigration in the first televised debate against Kamala Harris, citing debunked conspiracies to falsely link migrants to crime.

He began his immigration-related comments in response to questions unrelated to the issue and before the section on immigration in the 90-minute debate.

“They are going in violently. These are the people she and Biden let into our country and they’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous,” Trump said, adding that “we have to get them out.”

Nearly half an hour into the debate, moderators brought up immigration, questioning Kamala Harris why the Biden administration waited so close to the election to take action on the border.

Harris said that was a response to a failed bipartisan border deal that she accused Trump of killing before it even got a vote in Congress.

“He prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” the vice president said.

Trump sidestepped a question about why he did not support the bill and pivoted to talking about crime, referring to the U.S. as a “failing nation.”

The former president repeated false claims that migrants were eating people’s pets and that prisons and asylums were sending inmates to the border, although there was no proof to support those claims.

“They’ve destroyed the fabric of our country,” Trump said.

Harris pointed to those claims to argue that Trump was unfit for office and that the focus should be on concerns like housing, small businesses and groceries.

“The American people are exhausted with the same old tired playbook,” she said.

— Rafael Carranza

At debate watch party, Harris supporters titter at Trump’s claims

The mood was relaxed at a debate watch party in Phoenix organized by the Harris campaign.

As the debate kicked off, the crowd of mostly Democrats gathered in folding chairs around a television at a Harris supporter’s home.

They tittered as Trump claimed that the economy was better while he was president and, later, when he said he had “nothing to do” with Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint put together by former Trump administration officials.

They laughed again at Trump’s claims that Harris “doesn’t have a plan” and that she “is a Marxist.”

Event organizers handed out a bingo card with buzzwords they were expecting during the debate. Among them: “jobs,” “health care,” and “weird,” the catchphrase coined by Tim Walz to refer to the GOP.

— Laura Gersony

Democrats support 'executing' newborns, Trump says

In response to questions on reproductive rights, Donald Trump said he supports exceptions to abortion bans for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother, which is a somewhat more liberal view than those in his party who support total bans on abortion with no exceptions.

Arizona's 15-week abortion ban makes no exception for rape or incest, but it does have an exception to save the life of the mother.

Trump claimed Democrats support "executing" babies, an issue he has erroneously raised before with respect to abortion.

Harris said Trump would sign a national abortion ban, but Trump said that was not true. He said abortion access was an issue that should be decided by states, which he achieved by appointing three U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade and undo the landmark decision that guaranteed a federal right to an abortion.

"I did something that no one thought possible," Trump said. "I'm not in favor of a national abortion ban, but it doesn't matter."

Trump's running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, a Republican from Ohio, in 2022 said he "would like abortion to be illegal nationally."

— Stephanie Innes

Pro-Palestine protesters spoke out at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's appearance at the Mesa Convention Center on Sept. 10, 2024.
Pro-Palestine protesters spoke out at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's appearance at the Mesa Convention Center on Sept. 10, 2024.

'We're the underdogs,' Walz tells Mesa crowd; protesters escorted out

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz fired up a crowd of some 550 people at Mesa Convention Center ahead of the Harris-Trump face-off on Tuesday evening. “We’re the underdogs in this race,” Walz said. As he took the stage, the song “Small Town“ by John Mellencamp played over the speakers. The governor was introduced on stage by Marco Meraz of Mesa. Moments before he addressed the crowd, the governor appeared briefly on a “debate watch party” livestream on the Harris campaign social media accounts. Walz called Sen. Mark Kelly, a contender in the veepstakes, a “national treasure.” “Add Ruben Gallego to that,” Walz said, before noting that Gov. Katie Hobbs is “one of my best friends.”

Shortly after Walz took the stage in Mesa, his remarks were interrupted by what appeared to be pro-Palestine protesters. They held a Palestinian flag and shouted "you are complicit." Walz briefly stopped and then resumed his remarks as they were escorted out of the event space.

Walz took aim at Vance, the GOP vice presidential hopeful who made a controversial comment on school shootings during a trip to Arizona last week. Vance said he didn’t like it but called shootings a “fact of life" when reacting to a shooting in Georiga that killed four people.

“You know what's a fact of life? The sky is blue. That's a fact of life. You want to know another fact of life? Trump got his ass kicked in the 2020 election,” Walz said.

After Walz finished his remarks, hundreds stayed at Mesa Convention Center to watch the debate on three large screens. The lively crowd booed Trump and cheered for Harris, at times waving Harris campaign signs in the air in response to her answers – and her reactions while Trump spoke. Party lights illuminated the room.

— Stephanie Murray

Walz to wrap up campaign swing at Mesa Convention Center

Minnesota Gov. Walz was set to end his Arizona campaign swing at the Mesa Convention Center, where he was expected to speak before the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The standing-room crowd held signs that read "COACH!" and "KAMALA." GOP Mesa Mayor John Giles, who leads a group of Republicans for Harris in Arizona, boosted the Democratic ticket before Walz took the stage.

“Tonight, we are going to see a very stark contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” Giles said, previewing the debate.

— Stephanie Murray

It’s a record: Trump on debate stage for 7th time

When former President Donald Trump takes the debate stage in Philadelphia, he will make a bit of history in the process.

It will be his seventh debate dating to 2016, which will set a record for appearances in the television era.

Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama each made six appearances spread across multiple election cycles.

For Obama and George W. Bush, their numbers reflect the relatively high number of debates done in each of their cycles. For George H.W. Bush, it is a reminder that he also took part in a vice-presidential debate in 1984.

Trump’s numbers are more an outgrowth of a nominee who is running in his third cycle, all of them as the presidential nominee.

Vice President Kamala Harris is making her second debate appearance. She debated then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2020 in an event remembered as much as anything for a fly that remained disturbingly perched on Pence’s hair.

The debate will be the third in Philadelphia, which hosted the first presidential debate in 1976 featuring then-President Gerald Ford and former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter. The city also hosted the 1984 VP debate with the elder Bush and then-U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro.

Ronald J. Hansen

Where do Harris and Trump stand in the polls?   

Harris seems to have national momentum on her side heading into the presidential debate, a USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll found. The poll of 1,000 likely voters taken after the Democratic National Convention showed Harris leading Trump 48%-43%. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

However, a New York Times/Sienna Poll of 1,695 likely voters taken last week found Trump leading Harris, 48%-47%, within the poll’s 3 percentage point margin of error.

The race appears tighter in key swing states that could determine the election’s outcome. Other polls show the candidates are neck and neck in crucial battlegrounds including Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

— Rachel Barber, USA TODAY 

Debate in Philly? Cue the theme from 'Rocky'

Both campaigns are referencing one of Philadelphia's claims to fame: the setting of the 1976 Oscar-winning boxing film "Rocky," the story of scrappy underdog Rocky Balboa and his challenge to world champion Apollo Creed.

"Fight Night in Philly!" tweeted Trump aide Steven Cheung as the Republican candidate's plane took off from south Florida. The Harris campaign, meanwhile, is planning a pre-debate "drone show" above the "Rocky steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The odds are good that the sound system will play the musical theme from the movie, "Gonna Fly Now."

A word of caution may be in order, however: In the first Rocky film, Balboa actually lost a split decision to Creed in the championship bout; it wasn't until the first sequel that Rocky became champion.

— David Jackson, USA Today

Biden isn't attending debate, says Harris is ‘going to do great’

President Joe Biden said he spoke with a “calm” Vice President Kamala Harris hours ahead of the debate.

Speaking with reporters outside the White House, Biden said Harris seems “calm, cool and collected” in his call with the vice president.

“I think she's going to do great. And I'm not going to tell you what advice I gave her,” Biden said.

— Rebecca Morin, USA Today

Inside Trump's and Harris' starkly different visions for the economy

If the economic visions of Joe Biden and Donald Trump were starkly divergent, the contrast between Trump and Kamala Harris is nearly blinding.

Trump’s and Harris’ blueprints for the economy are expected to be spotlighted in their debate Tuesday evening.

What does Kamala Harris support? What about Donald Trump?

Since Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee, she has unveiled a wish list of proposals that go further than Biden’s in aiding low- and middle-income Americans by making housing more affordable, reducing the cost of child care, cracking down on price gouging and lowering prescription drug costs, among others.

Trump, meanwhile, is also doubling down on his first-term agenda.

He aims to extend and expand his 2017 tax cuts for virtually all Americans, crack down harder on illegal immigration while deporting millions of foreign-born residents, impose fresh tariffs on U.S. imports, and roll back much of Biden’s plan to create a clean energy future.

— Paul Davidson, USA Today

VP candidate Tim Walz: 'Television star' Trump will be canceled in 56 days

At 2:15 p.m., Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stopped by an Arizona Coordinated Campaign field office, where he previewed the presidential debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, hours before the candidates were set to take the stage.

“Tonight you’ll see an impassioned, joyful, visionary, ready leader make her case,” Walz said at the Phoenix campaign stop.

He also took aim at Trump.

"He likes to be a television star. He’ll be canceled in 56 days," Walz said.

Walz made the case for more freedom during a visit to a Phoenix campaign office with Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs. He stood in front of hand-drawn signs that said “We’re not going back” and “When we fight we win.”

“Kamala Harris has been talking about freedom. Freedom to make our own health-care decisions,” Walz said. “We’ve got to win the election first.”

During her remarks, Hobbs called Walz a “great person” and mentioned they had worked together as governors.

“I could not be happier to have Gov. Walz here,” Hobbs said.

After his remarks, Walz picked up the phone and spoke with voters during a phone bank at the office.

— Stephanie Murray

Fear the Fork: VP candidate Tim Walz makes pro-ASU hand gesture

VP candidate Tim Walz makes the ASU "Forks Up" hand gesture in Tempe on Sept. 10, 2024.
VP candidate Tim Walz makes the ASU "Forks Up" hand gesture in Tempe on Sept. 10, 2024.

In the heart of Sun Devil country, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz courted political controversy by making the Arizona State University "Forks Up" hand gesture.

“How can you not constantly go around telling people to fork ‘em?” Walz quipped during a campaign stop at Snakes & Lattes, a cafe in Tempe where patrons can play board games.

He said he wanted to make a joke with it but gestured to the media and said he might get in trouble, then held up the hand signal, which consists of the index, middle and pinky fingers representing the Sun Devil's pitchfork.

Politicians running statewide in Arizona often try to avoid the appearance of picking a favorite in the passionate collegiate rivalry between the Sun Devils and the University of Arizona Wildcats.

Walz departs Snakes & Lattes at 1:51 p.m. A handful of people stood outside and captured the motorcade leaving on their smartphones.

— Stephanie Murray

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VP candidate Tim Walz courts young voters at Snakes & Lattes in Tempe

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his first public stop at Snakes & Lattes, a cafe in Tempe where patrons can play board games.

Walz appealed to young voters during the retail campaign stop. He warned against Project 2025, the conservative policy proposal, focusing on abortion rights in particular.

He thanked young people for being engaged enough with the election to come see him in Tempe and said they can change politics for the better.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz makes his first public stop during his trip to Phoenix at Snakes & Lattes on Sept. 10, 2024.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz makes his first public stop during his trip to Phoenix at Snakes & Lattes on Sept. 10, 2024.

“Do not underestimate the power you have,” Walz said.

Walz sought to draw a sharp contrast between Republicans and Democrats on issues including climate change and abortion.

“We are not the same,” Walz said. “There’s a very big difference on this.

Walz also offered a “pro tip” for Republican Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio: “Shut the hell up about talking about women.”

— Stephanie Murray

VP candidate Tim Walz arrives in Phoenix

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 12:41 p.m. on Tuesday.

Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, was greeted by Arizona Democratic Party chair Yolanda Bejarano, Tempe Mayor Corey Woods, Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and Lt. Gov. Regina Antone, and Robert Migel, the chair of the Al-Chin Indian Community.

— Stephanie Murray

What is the National Constitution Center? What to know about debate venue

The Kamala Harris-Donald Trump debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, in the heart of Center City. It's located across from Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and other significant sites at Independence National Historical Park.

The National Constitution Center is a private, nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that opened July 4, 2003. It offers interactive exhibits and programs centered around the Constitution, government and civics. It hosts regular discussions that bring people from across the political spectrum together and offers a variety of online educational resources (including a blog post about presidential debates).

The center was established by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 with the Constitution Heritage Act, which called for an institution that "shall disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis in order to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people," its website says.

Its Signers' Hall features 42 life-size bronze statues of the men who signed the Constitution, including Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

Its current exhibitions include "We The People," an in-depth exploration of the U.S. Constitution; "American Treasures: Documenting the Nation's Founding"; "Civil War and Reconstruction: The Battle for Freedom and Equality"; "Continuing Liberty: From the Declaration to the Bill of Rights"; and "The 19th Amendment: How Women Won the Right to Vote."

— Phaedra Trethan, USA Today

When will VP candidate Tim Walz arrive in Arizona?

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz started his day in Nevada and was expected to arrive around noon at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix for an afternoon of campaigning.

Kamala Harris’ running mate choosing to spend his pre-debate hours in Arizona shows just how crucial the battleground state is for both presidential campaigns. Polls have tightened since Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. Trump and his running mate JD Vance have also visited the state in recent weeks.

Walz will participate in “political engagements” throughout the day. Later, he’ll speak at a 5:30 p.m. event, just 30 minutes before the debate is set to begin.

“Grey’s Anatomy” and “Emily in Paris” actor Kate Walsh, who grew up in Tucson and studied acting at Arizona State University, also will be on the Arizona campaign trail Tuesday. She’s scheduled to appear at a “Women for Harris-Walz” event and attend a debate night watch party.

Stephanie Murray

Border security: Asylum, crime and deportations 

While the debate will likely cover many topics, immigration and border security are guaranteed to rise to the top of the list.

After several controversies in recent weeks, Trump has shifted back to the border as his main attack against Harris, whom he blames for security challenges at the southern border. He visited the Arizona-Mexico border last month, and his running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ariz., campaigned Wednesday in Mesa on immigration issues.

The debate will be a chance for Harris to articulate her positions on immigration and the border and to defend herself from Republican attacks. She supported a bipartisan border deal negotiated in part by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and accuses Trump of bashing the deal for political gain in the election cycle.

Here are five key areas within immigration and border enforcement that could come up during the debate.

— Rafael Carranza and Raphael Romero Ruiz

How high are the stakes? Last debate spelled end for Biden

When the history of the 2024 presidential election is written, the one and only debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be remembered as the event that truly changed the course of the race.

A few weeks after Biden’s disastrous performance, he dropped out, and Kamala Harris stepped in as the Democratic nominee. This week, the second debate of the presidential contest will take place, this time between Harris and Trump. The stakes are high for both candidates; polls show a close race with just two months left until Election Day.

For Harris, Tuesday's debate in Philadelphia will provide a chance to show she can stand up to Trump and introduce herself to voters who feel they know little about her. For Trump, the debate is an opportunity to define Harris on his terms and try to regain some of the momentum he lost to her after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Michael Collins, USA Today

What time is the presidential debate in Arizona? What channel is it on?

The debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will start at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Arizona. The debate will air on ABC and can be live-streamed on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.

The USA TODAY Network will stream the ABC News Presidential Debate Simulcast on the USA TODAY channel, available on most smart televisions and devices.

It is taking place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The moderators will be David Muir, anchor of “World News Tonight,” and Linsey Davis, “World News Tonight” Sunday and “Prime” anchor.

The debate will last 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks. There won’t be opening statements, but there will be closing ones. There will be no studio audience. While one candidate is speaking, the other candidate's mic will be muted.

A debate between vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz is scheduled for Oct. 1 and will be hosted by CBS News.

— Staff reports

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Live coverage of Tim Walz in Phoenix as Harris and Trump debate