Today marked the first debate between US Presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Even before it began, given what we know about both our candidates, we knew it would be a highly meme-able event. Admittedly, we didn’t quite think it would come to “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison”. (We’ll give you one guess who said that?)
We concede that many topics from the evening’s agenda were not really laughing matters, unfortunately, when chaos descends on politics—farce is where it lands. Here, a few of the best memes from the night, and what they mean.
Taylor Swift Endorses Kamala
Right after the debate’s end, Taylor Swift finally weighed in on this year’s election and announced she would endorse Kamala Harris. Of course, the memes were, ahem, swift. Tay not only reclaimed her title as a “childless cat lady“—a riff on JD Vance’s aspirational takedown of female democrats—but she surely sent the Trump campaign into a spin.
“Transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison”
In a bizarre shot at Harris, Trump suggested the Vice President wanted to do “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison”. Naturally, the internet went wild…
“Concepts of a plan”
While Harris was very clear on her plan, Trump was grilled by moderator Linsey Davis for not having a plan. “Yes or no, you still do not have a plan?” she posed to the man who was President between 2017 and 2021. To which Trump responded “I have concepts of a plan.”
“They’re eating the cats”
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said during the debate. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” The comments followed a debunked video allegedly of people in Ohio claiming immigrants killed ducks from a local park for food. The Republicans had their own take, and the internet had theirs.
No, it’s not legal to kill babies…
Some are saying moderator Linsey Davis ‘won the debate’ thanks to her quick, on-the-spot fact checking of Trump for saying the Democrats support abortion “after birth”. “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” Davis quipped (and you can watch it below).
imagine explaining this to abraham lincoln pic.twitter.com/JeM3yBbXau
— kimani(@onthattightrope) September 11, 2024
As for the winner of today’s debate, the polls are strongly in Harris’ favour. Will there be a second debate to even the score? Stay tuned…
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
