Just under two weeks before the 2024 Presidential election, the Trojan Democrats and USC College Republicans traded barbs Wednesday in the Fall 2024 student debate hosted by the USC Political Student Assembly and USC Political Union. With around 200 students in attendance, the event hit the capacity of Tommy’s Place, according to Michael Amato, an assistant director at PSA and a sophomore majoring in public policy.

The debate was moderated by Duncan Law, the president of the Political Union, and the co-executive directors of PSA, Leah Nwizugbo and Hailey Pham. Trojan Debate Society president Veer Juneja joined the panel for a new audience-driven section about the upcoming election.

Debaters Md Zuhayeer Iqbal, a sophomore majoring in political science as well as philosophy, for the Democrats and Dakota Driemeyer, a senior majoring in law, history, and culture, for the Republicans, answered two tailored questions Juneja selected from audience feedback online, and then both answered a question about why young voters should vote for their respective candidates.

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The first question was aimed at Iqbal and asked about Harris’ immigration policy. To begin his answer, Iqbal said, “America is nothing without immigrants,” and later claimed they contribute to the United States being the “number-one” economy.

Iqbal then criticized former President Donald Trump’s rejection of a bipartisan border patrol bill in Congress.

“If [Trump] cares so much about immigration … Why didn’t he say okay to a bill that both sides agree on?” Iqbal said. “[Trump] would rather run on a problem than solve it.”

In response to a question about Trump’s tariff policy, Driemeyer began his answer by saying the audience was “the biggest [Vice President] Kamala Harris rally I have ever seen,” and called her a “known Marxist.”

Later, Driemeyer referred to undocumented immigrants as “illegal aliens,” which sparked a mixed response from the crowd.

“I am not for political correctness … [I] prefer to call them what they are,” Driemeyer said in an interview after the debate. “If you’re coming across the border illegally, we’re going to call you out. Pack your bags, and when Donald Trump is elected you’re going home.”

In an answer to a question about Harris’ fracking policy, Iqbal said Trump eliminated more than 100 climate change policies that increased greenhouse gas emissions.

“He doesn’t believe in science, so how can we trust him to deal with our climate crisis?” Iqbal said.

Iqbal also said a reason to vote for Harris was that she does not bring The Heritage Foundation’s “Mandate For Leadership: The Conservative Promise” — also known as Project 2025 — with her. Trump’s prior administration adopted 64% of the 2016 The Heritage Foundation document.

In response, Driemeyer said he is “100% for every last bit of it.”

“Death to bureaucracy, the bureaucracy costs too much, it’s way too complex,” Driemeyer said. “Corruption is through the roof, and it is killing innovation in this country.” 

Amato said the decision to change the debate format was due to prior audiences seeming disengaged.

“I think that the debaters themselves adapted very well,” Amato said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “We always want to see an engaging debate. I definitely think that’s what we saw.”

Students also debated the right-to-work laws, the Affordable Care Act and voting rights for convicted felons.

Juan Pablo Moreland, a senior majoring in philosophy who argued for the Republicans on right-to-work laws, said forcing workers to pay union dues or else be fired violates their right to choose. 

“If you introduce competition by allowing individual workers to choose whether or not they want to join a union, they will repay you,” Moreland said. “Every dollar matters for the working class, especially after [grocery] prices have increased 20% [since April 2021].”

In response, the Democrats’ debater, River Muench, a senior majoring in political science, said workers in unions earn an average of 10% more than workers that are not in unions. Sources differ on the exact percentage. A 2023 U.S. Department of Treasury report stated union workers make about 20% more than nonunion workers. 

“I notice a reliance on anecdotal evidence and lack of hard evidence on the Republican side, which I think shows that there’s very little argument in favor of right-to-work laws,” Muench said. “They’re simply paying for the benefits that they’re receiving, which is only fair.”

Sara Xiao Stienecker, the Democratic representative in the ACA debate and a senior majoring in political science, said the ACA has improved access to healthcare and protects individuals with preexisting conditions from getting kicked off of their plans or denied their benefits.

“I’m not going to stand here and say the ACA is perfect … but it’s an improvement that we drastically needed,” Stienecker said. “More people are insured, insurance is better, people are saving money. It’s a net positive.”

Ben Sheyman, the Republican debater and a senior majoring in political science, said a free-market system, where individuals go directly to insurance providers, forcing competition, would lower healthcare prices.

“What we need to do is ask ourselves, ‘Do we want a system that places power in the hands of government officials, the boards of three-letter government agencies, or do we want a healthcare system that is flush with options and alternatives in the hands of doctors?’” Sheyman said. “The Republican vision … puts the power of decision making back in the hands of the people.” 

Tanner Dodt, a junior majoring in piano performance, who argued for the Republicans said, because nearly two out of three prisoners are rearrested within five years of being released, it should take time for them to gain voting rights back. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation found that more than two in three prisoners are rearrested within three years of their release.

“Felons break the law and infringe upon the rights of others, so why would we hesitate to take away their voting rights?” Dodt said. “We can’t just be handing out voting rights to people that aren’t fully reformed.”

The Democratic representative, Donovan O’Leary, a sophomore majoring in political science, said rights cannot be given and taken away and given back; they are inherent. 

“We were founded as a democracy. Our founding fathers believed that we should have voting rights, not voting privileges that can be taken away,” O’Leary said. “We need to take measures to integrate felons further into society and make them feel like they’re actual members of society, and they can’t do that if they’re not represented.”

Stienecker said the debate was a good way to talk about issues in person and hear both sides.

“Now, more than ever, healthy civic discourse is really important for people to experience, especially in our age group,” Stienecker said.

Disclaimer: Dakota Driemeyer is a staff member of “The Soapbox,” the Daily Trojan’s opinion podcast. He was not involved in any coverage of the debate.