What to expect from the first US presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump?

Today, US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be facing off on stage for the first time for their presidential debate.

The encounter that will be taking place in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening has been highly anticipated ever since Trump's debate with President Joe Biden, whose unusually poor performance paved the way for him to drop out of the race.

What can people expect this time, with a new Democratic candidate from the same administration debating a seasoned and often ruthless presidential debater with a history of rattling his opponents with unexpected jabs?

Trump's 'unpredictability'

To start with, there's a good chance that this debate, like many others in US history, will be quickly forgotten. On the other hand, with a candidate as unpredictable as Trump, there could easily be some surprises in store.

In 2016, when Trump was running against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage coached him for his debates. This time, former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who notoriously caught Harris off guard during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, is helping prep Trump for this week's debate.

"Trump likes to dictate the terms of the debate by going off the traditional format. That's Kamala's biggest challenge," Richard Groper, a lecturer in political science at California State University in Los Angeles, told The New Arab.

"People think that because she's a prosecutor, she will control the narrative. Don't count on that. Tulsi is helping him prepare," he said.

Though Harris is a seasoned public speaker, Trump is far more practised in presidential debate, as he heads into his seventh one this week. Harris hasn't taken part in a presidential debate since the 2020 cycle, when she faced off against Trump's running mate Mike Pence.

Trump is expected to launch a range of personal attacks against Harris, which, if the past is any indication, could include her dating history, her ethnic background, and her childhood home in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has in recent years become fodder for right-wing media when reporting on crime and homelessness.

Harris will focus on key domestic issues, but may flop on Gaza

Policy will also likely come up, with Trump expected to point to the Biden administration's chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan, their policy on immigration, and their support of trans youths.

Harris will likely bring up Trump's opposition to abortion rights, his opposition to gun control legislation, and his status as a convicted felon.

As for Israel's war on Gaza, Harris is in the unusual position of being part of an unpopular administration supporting an unpopular foreign leader under investigations for war crimes and genocide, Benjamin Netanyahu, while needing to differentiate herself from her current boss as she makes her case to voters.

"With Gaza, I'm interested to see how she walks that line between moderate and progressive Democrats," J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told TNA.

Arab and Muslim Democratic groups have reportedly been pressing for Harris to show support for Palestinians during the debate, part of a steadily growing effort to make Gaza a bigger priority for her campaign, which many on the left argue could bring in more votes from these communities.

"She has expressed more sympathy than Biden, though I don't think that's a high bar," Coleman said.

Overall, Harris is still largely considered to be an unknown compared with Trump, who has been on the national political stage for nearly a decade and who has cultivated a solid base of support.

"His supporters are baked in. She has a higher ceiling but a lower floor," said Groper. "She can drop, but she can also get more support."