The ABC News moderators only intervened a few times during the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Tuesday night. But each time sure was memorable. Just to set the record — and the Republican nominee — straight: no, immigrants aren’t eating people’s pets, and no, executing babies isn’t actually legal in the U.S.
This is some of the deeply strange terrain covered during the 90-plus-minute debate in Philadelphia, which became immediate fodder for memes. We rounded up some of the best responses social media had to offer below.
Harris easily baited Trump into making some of his more off-the-wall comments. After warning the audience that her opponent often makes wild claims at his rallies, Trump launched into a baseless conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants eating household pets in Springfield, Ohio. David Muir, the debate’s co-moderator, jumped in to say there's literally no evidence that anything like this is happening.
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Trump repeated his false claim that Democrats support abortions “after birth” abortions, which aren’t actually a thing, and “executing” babies. (Moderator Linsey Davis: “There is no state where it is legal to kill a baby after birth.”) He also claimed he was “a leader on fertilization,” which is, uh, interesting phrasing.
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Another instant classic from Trump: that Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens who are in prison.” Ah yes, the master plan has been revealed.
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Some commenters simply pointed out just how out-there Trump’s comments really are.
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Harris' facial expressions were a meme machine unto themselves.
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