In the days leading up to the presidential debate, a 2020 tweet from the former Trump team lawyer Rudy Giuliani recirculated on X: once again, Americans find themselves gearing up for, as he put it, “The debat.”
Though the debate aired on ABC News, with pre- and post-game commentary from anchors, the real buzz took place on social media, where users reacted to the night’s most viral moments.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris met for the first time ever on the Philadelphia stage, and their initial greeting became the first strong visual of the night. Harris strode across the stage, hand out, nearly forcing Trump to accept her handshake, even though it appeared as though he planned to rebuff her.
Social media snarks noted how Harris introduced herself to Trump – “Kamala Harris” – as if he didn’t already know. “Kamala introducing herself lmao she’s a gag,” the television writer Ira Madison III wrote on X.
Kamala introducing herself lmao she’s a gag
— Ira (@iramadisonthree) September 11, 2024
Harris’s supporters, known as the “K-Hive”, loved the vice-president’s frequent laugh and relaxed speaking style. Her performance on Tuesday was subdued, but not dead, they opined. As Trump spoke, they zoomed in on how Harris stared him down, sometimes appearing incredulous, confused, generally oozing a sort of “can you believe this guy?” demeanor.
HER FACE SKGHGGDFJHD SHES ABOUT TO LAY INTO HIM pic.twitter.com/jYvPjmOu8m
— Keith 🌴🥥 (@nagy_minaj) September 11, 2024
When I send you this, I know you f*cking lying #Debate2024 pic.twitter.com/urfezRPr6P
— Dr. Wendy Osefo (@WendyOsefo) September 11, 2024
Teacher when you didn’t do the reading but have a comment pic.twitter.com/BPAk9j1rYU
— The.Ink, from Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) September 11, 2024
The straight-faced fact checks from the ABC News debate moderators, Linsey Davis and David Muir, heightened certain absurdist quotes from Trump. When the former president repeated a fear-mongering falsehood that some US states allow for the killing of babies after they are born, Davis clarified: “There is no state in this country in which it’s legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
But viewers were still happy that many of Trump’s words did not go unchecked. (Unless those viewers were pro-Trump: his allies, including Tulsi Gabbard and Lindsey Graham, accused the network of policing him while going easy on Harris.)
Good fact check from ABC pic.twitter.com/EDjz16fzDH
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) September 11, 2024
"There is no state in this country in which it's legal to kill a baby after it's born." pic.twitter.com/ZbO3ARTUIt
— Sophie Vershbow (@svershbow) September 11, 2024
The mics may be muted, but her facial expressions are not.
— The.Ink, from Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) September 11, 2024
Ditto for when Muir countered Trump’s assertion that Haitian immigrants abducted and ate pets in Springfield, Ohio – a rumor that began on Facebook, but was quickly shot down by city officials, even as JD Vance and other Republicans repeated the claims this week.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump rambled, adding more pet lore to an election season filled with talk about “crazy cat ladies”.
Wow, cats have had a hell of an election season huh?
— Jasmine Wright (@JasJWright) September 11, 2024
The former Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav got in on the joke, tweeting: “Pet Shop Boys better stay inside and lock the doors. You too Snoop Dogg. And Pitbull.”
Pet Shop Boys better stay inside and lock the doors. You too Snoop Dogg. And Pitbull.
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) September 11, 2024
But some progressive groups were upset Harris laughed through the exchange, which minimized Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant dog whistle.
the immigration panic narratives make trump sound insane, but the fact that the dems arent countering even a little bit of this narrative is geniunely alarming.
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) September 11, 2024
Another Trump soundbite for the books: when speaking on IVF, the former president, who has said he wants to make the procedure free for Americans, said: “I have been a leader on fertilization.” Perhaps the grossest statement ever uttered on a debate stage.
i have been a leader on fertilization is a wild statement
— derecka (@dereckapurnell) September 11, 2024
The former president also conjured many Maga fears in one line, when he accused Harris of being in favor of allowing “transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison”. Many described the bonkers claim as a feat of anti-woke Mad Libs, combining multiple culture wars in one visual.
"Transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison" is just MAGA mad libs
— jordan (@JordanUhl) September 11, 2024
transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison pic.twitter.com/FNhKekSm1S
— Half-Shirt Radical (@EricShethar) September 11, 2024
Despite protests outside of the convention center from pro-Palestinian groups and young voters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the debate dedicated only a short segment to questions on the Israel-Gaza situation. Harris’s response was a boilerplate statement she’s made before about reaffirming her support for Israel while acknowledging “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed”. The quote invited rhetorical questions from anti-war viewers at home: what would be an acceptable number?
what’s the right amount of innocent palestinians to be killed kamala
— derecka (@dereckapurnell) September 11, 2024
bomb bomb bombala harris
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) September 11, 2024
As the night came to a close, Trump delivered a line that was unfortunately relatable. When asked by the moderators to confirm that he doesn’t “have a plan” for healthcare, he retorted: “I have a concept of a plan” – and who hasn’t stumbled through a work meeting like that?
But overall, the feeling on social media was that the former president floundered, and that Harris successfully baited him. A rare, bipartisan statement we might all be able to agree on: from Trump’s batty zingers to Harris’s lack of a poker face, both sides delivered enough meme fuel to last until November.
WE’RE SO BACK pic.twitter.com/gzeuZEKR12
— Annie Wu (all socials: @annie_wu_22) (@Annie_Wu_22) September 11, 2024
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