Vice President Kamala Harris irritated former President Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s debate by saying his supporters leave his rallies early.
That comment led to one of Trump’s strangest claims of the debate: that Haitian immigrants allowed into the U.S. by Biden and Harris were “eating pets.”
Harris had shifted from talking about the border crisis to Trump’s rallies, noting how immigration is often a main topic at mass gatherings.
But then he noticed the strange variety of topics that emerge during Trump’s speeches, which typically last about 90 minutes.
“I’m going to invite them to attend one of Donald Trump’s rallies because it’s really interesting to watch,” she said. “We still see him at his rallies talking about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He talks about how windmills cause cancer.”
“And what you’ll also notice is that people are starting to leave your rallies early out of fatigue and boredom,” the Democratic candidate said.
Vice President Kamala Harris irritated former President Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s debate by saying his supporters leave his rallies early.
Former President Donald Trump (left) responded when Vice President Kamala Harris (right) said his supporters left his rallies early and claimed Harris paid people to attend her rallies.
“And I’ll tell you that the only thing you won’t hear him talk about is you,” he added.
That statement sent Trump into a stutter.
Asked why he encouraged congressional Republicans to reject a deal on the border bill, Trump instead said he wanted to address Harris’ comment about the rallies.
“She said people are starting to leave. People aren’t going to her rallies. There’s no reason to go. And the people that do go, she’s busing them in and paying them to be there,” Trump said.
Since Harris took President Joe Biden’s place on the Democratic ticket in late July, she has been drawing Obama-style crowds — something not seen during the 2020 cycle, when President Joe Biden held small, COVID-conscious events.
“People don’t leave my rallies,” Trump continued. “We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”
Earlier Tuesday, the Harris-Walz campaign released an ad criticizing Trump for the size of his rallies with comments made by former President Barack Obama, who suggested the former president’s “obsession with crowd size” was about the size of something else.
A Harris campaign ad released early Tuesday showed images of sparsely populated stands at a Trump rally to get under the former president’s skin.
In the primaries, former President Barack Obama gestured toward the Democratic National Convention, suggesting that former President Donald Trump’s obsession with crowd sizes had a deeper meaning.
From there, Trump launched the strangest attack of the debate, which lasted more than 90 minutes when he returned to the topic of immigration.
He followed the lead of his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, in falsely claiming that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pets in the city of Springfield, Ohio.
“They’re eating the cats. They’re eating… they’re eating the pets,” Trump shouted.
ABC News moderator David Muir then inserted a fact check.
“I want to clarify that you mentioned Springfield, Ohio, and ABC News reached out to the city manager. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being hurt, injured or mistreated by people.”
Trump responded.
“I’ve seen people on television saying that my dog has been stolen,” the former president said.
“A dog was eaten by the people,” Trump said.