Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
USA TODAY
Trump goes full loon in debate with Harris. Republicans, you sure you want this guy?
By Rex Huppke, USA TODAY,
3 hours ago
And now, a brief message to Republicans in the wake of Tuesday night’s presidential debate : HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAA! Are you freakin’ kidding me? That babbling goon is your standard-bearer? Nice work!
With one smart comment early in the debate, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shattered any veneer of sanity around Donald Trump, sending him spiraling into his true, babbling, unhinged form. He was often incomprehensible, all anger and grievance, a dunderhead for the ages and a tragic figure the GOP is fully strapped to.
Harris did what, to Trump, is unthinkable. She said, accurately, that people often leave his rallies "out of exhaustion and boredom" because it’s always the same schtick.
One jab from Harris and Trump was knocked out of the debate
Former President Donald Trump reacts during a presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. Brian Snyder/Reuters
And that was all it took. Trump hadn’t been making much sense to begin with, but he came unglued after that subtle jab , and there aren’t enough antacids in the world to calm the stomachs of honest Republicans who watched the rest.
He became angry, snarling about immigrants and even bringing up a baseless, racist claim that has been circulating lately in the right-wing loon-o-sphere.
Asked about his recent comment that he lost the last election “by a whisker” – the first time he’s admitted losing the 2020 presidential election – Trump responded : “I said that?” He then insisted that he did win the last election, which is crazy talk.
Trump ranted angrily, showing debate viewers exactly who he is
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump greet before their first presidential debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Asked about a health care plan , something he has promised basically forever and never delivered, he said he has "concepts of a plan."
At one point he said he was listing two things relating to immigration, but he listed three things: “ We need two things , we need walls ... we have to have borders and we have to have good elections.”
Biden's debate flop seemed unmatchable. Trump just matched it – and more.
As much as the first debate was a disaster for President Joe Biden – a disaster that led him to step down and Harris to take over at the top of the ticket – this debate, for Trump and Republicans in general, was a profound embarrassment.
Vice President Kamala Harris listens during a presidential debate against former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. Brian Snyder/Reuters
Trump ranted like he was reading from a Facebook screed posted by a conspiracy-addled lunatic. His face twisted in contortions of frustration and rage, and he tossed out words and ideas that would only make sense to those who live in the deepest fever swamps of the MAGA universe.
Rally Trump is the worst kind of Trump for the GOP
The last thing his campaign or the party at large wanted was for Debate Trump to sound like Rally Trump. The rallies are for the rabid base, and they are, if you haven’t watched them, festivals of vile rhetoric and insanity. The debate is where Trump is supposed to pretend to be a serious person who has … you know … ideas and stuff. A man who understands policy and can at least trick people into thinking he’s remotely qualified to return to the White House.
Oops. Harris’s needling of the former president’s fragile ego swiftly brought out Rally Trump, and boy did he make a mess of things.
He wouldn’t answer when asked if he would veto an abortion ban.
He went full stream-of-consciousness at times, not answering questions but belching lies like he had just gorged himself on the very concept of dishonesty.
Harris knew exactly how to beat Trump in the debate
Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store .
It was merciless, sending Trump into a chaotic display of bizarre bloviating that should scare the bejesus out of voters, and leave Republicans muttering: “Dear lord, what have we done?”
I have to imagine a lot of Republicans feel the same way after that colossal cluster muck. Exhausted, not hopeful about where the polling is going to head now and really wishing they chose a nominee who isn’t whatever the hell that was.
Well, Harris was to the point and informative. Trump was entertaining and pathetic at the same time. As expected, lied repeatedly. His forgot he admitted he lost the election by a whisker. Now he said it was sarcastic. He looked like his diaper was leaking.
Lori Everett
41m ago
#DONALDTRUMP YOU WERE 99.9 % TRUTHFUL ON EVERYTHING IN THE DEBATE AND YOU WERE MOST DEFINITELY OUTNUMBERED 3-1 BECAUSE THEY NEVER FACT CHECKED KAMALLA HARRIS WITH ALL HER LIES. Social media posts, made by right-wingers, claimed that residents of Springfield Ohio are saying that Haitians are eating the pets of other residents. One such incident did actually take place last month as reported by Fox News. An Ohio woman was arrested after she killed a cat and then began eating it in front of the neighbors. Allexis Telia Ferrell, 27, is charged with injuring animals, prohibitions concerning companion animals and disorderly conduct, the report said. The woman reportedly stomped in the cat's head to kill it before she ate it in front of a residential area in Ohio.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.