Harris defended bail fund during the peak of defund-the-police movement, despite denying it in a debate.

Despite promoting a bail fund that helped free protesters demanding police be defunded and lauding the movement in a radio interview, Vice President Kamala Harris denied supporting the defund the police movement during the 2020 George Floyd riots.

"She has always been against defunding the police, and she gave up on it, which was a big mistake. Everyone is laughing at her misguided decision, and she gave up on at least 12 and possibly 14 or 15 different policies. She was a big proponent of defunding the police," Trump said during the debate in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening.

Despite her mic being muted, Harris shook her head no and said, "That's not true."

While her mic was muted, Harris tried to speak in Minnesota, but Trump interrupted her and asked if that sounded familiar.

Though the audio was more muted than Trump, Harris was seen saying, "Don't lie."

Trump stated, "She went out in Minnesota and wanted to free criminals who killed people and burned down Minneapolis. She did things that nobody would ever think of. Now she wants to perform transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison. This is a radical left-liberal who would do this."

Tuesday evening's event was the first time Trump and Harris faced off on a debate stage, following Trump's previous debate with Biden in June. Biden withdrew from the race shortly after due to growing concerns about his mental abilities and age.

Harris publicly declared her support for the activists advocating to defund the police when she posted a message on Twitter promoting a bail fund for the protesters arrested during the riots.

"Please contribute to the @MNFreedomFund to assist in posting bail for those demonstrating in Minnesota," Harris tweeted on June 1, 2020. The tweet remains active as of Wednesday.

Reports later found that only a small portion of the more than $41 million in the bail fund was used to release Black Lives Matter rioters from jail, despite its intended purpose.

Fox 9, a Minnesota-based news outlet, reported that the fund spent a substantial amount of money to release an accused murderer and a convicted rapist who were facing charges of sexual assault and kidnapping, among other offenses.

Another driver was fatally shot by a man in a road rage incident, and the fund bailed him out.

The Minnesota Freedom Fund aims to "release individuals from detention by paying their bail and immigration bonds, regardless of their financial ability."

In 2020, riots and protests swept across the country after the death of George Floyd during a police interaction on Memorial Day. This event sparked nationwide calls from protesters, activists, and Democratic politicians to defund police departments and invest in community services such as housing and educational programs. These protests and riots took place during an election year and were also influenced by the coronavirus pandemic and its government shutdowns and social distancing orders that disrupted daily life.

During the 2020 election cycle, Harris ran for president but later dropped out before being chosen as Biden's running mate.

On June 9, 2020, in a radio interview, Harris reiterated her support for defund protesters and stated that the defund movement was correctly redistributing police funding.

"Harris argued on "Ebro in the Morning!" on June 9, 2020, that the belief that more police presence leads to greater safety is misguided. He pointed out that upper-middle-class suburban neighborhoods, which do not have a heavy police presence, have other factors contributing to their safety, such as well-funded schools, high homeownership rates, thriving small businesses, and access to public health and mental health services."

In America, two-thirds of public school teachers are paying for school supplies out of their own pockets, despite generations of defunding public schools and prioritizing the militarization of police departments. This situation calls for a critical examination and understanding that this approach is not effective.

According to Axios, the 2020 protests and riots were predicted to result in insurance companies paying out between $1 billion to $2 billion in claims, making it the most expensive violent protest in U.S. history.

Since the protests and riots, there has been a significant increase in national crime, with murders rising by nearly 30% compared to the previous year, according to FBI data. This represents the largest single-year increase in killings recorded by the agency.

The surge in violence and the nationwide demand to abolish the police led to a mass exodus of officers, who left their jobs or retired to states that were more supportive of law enforcement.

The Harris campaign did not respond to Planet Chronicle Digital's request for comment on her denial of supporting defund the police during the debate, despite her previous comments and social media posts in 2020.

Planet Chronicle Digital's Stepheny Price contributed to this article.