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Presidential debate will be Trump, Harris’ first face-to-face meeting : NPR
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Presidential debate will be Trump, Harris’ first face-to-face meeting : NPR

This photo shows Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor administering the oath of office to new Vice President Kamala Harris on January 20, 2021. Sotomayor, wearing a black coat, stands on the right side of the photo, opposite Harris, who is wearing a blue coat. Both women have their hands raised. Next to Sotomayor is outgoing Vice President Mike Pence, who is wearing a suit, black coat, and blue pandemic mask.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (R) administers the oath of office to new Vice President Kamala Harris at the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021, as outgoing Vice President Mike Pence (wearing a blue mask) looks on.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images


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Tuesday night’s debate won’t just be the first face-off between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Harris. It’ll be the first time they’ve met in person.

“I was a little surprised. People might be surprised to hear that you’ve never spoken to him, met him in person,” CNN’s Dana Bash told Harris during their August interview.

Trump and Harris served in the federal government at the same time, but logistical quirks and unusual decisions have prevented them from communicating directly in recent years.

Harris was elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate in 2016, during her second term as the state’s attorney general. Trump twice donated to help Harris re-elect as California’s attorney general, in 2011 and 2013, though she did not keep the money.

Trump won the presidential election the same year Harris was elected U.S. senator. Both were sworn in early 2017.

Harris served in the Senate during Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2019 and voted to impeach him on both counts (he was eventually acquitted along party lines).

Presidential candidate Trump and vice presidential candidate Harris did not meet in person during the 2020 election (granted, the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the world to move online).

Harris debated Trump’s running mate Mike Pence in October 2020. Remember the fly?

Trump and Harris may have crossed paths at President Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, two weeks after the Capitol riot that Trump was credited with inciting. But Trump opted not to attend, becoming the first former president to skip his successor’s inauguration since Andrew Johnson in 1869.