Kamala Harris says Trump supporters leave his rallies ‘out of boredom’ in crowd size taunt at the debate
Vice President Kamala Harris got under former President Donald Trump’s skin during Tuesday night’s debate by saying that his supporters leave his rallies early.
That comment led to one of the strangest claims to be made by Trump during the debate – that Haitian immigrants the Biden-Harris campaign allowed into the U.S. were ‘eating pets’ in Springfield, Ohio.
‘They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets,’ Trump yelled.
Harris had segued from talking about the border crisis to Trump rallies by noting how immigration is often a hot topic at the mass gatherings.
From there she noted the odd variety of subjects that come up during Trump’s speeches – which normally run around 90 minutes.
‘I’m going to actually do something really unusual,’ she said. ‘I’m going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump’s rallies because it’s a really interesting thing to watch. You see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about how windmills cause cancer.
‘And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom,’ the Democratic nominee said.
Vice President Kamala Harris got under former President Donald Trump’s skin during Tuesday night’s debate by saying that his supporters leave his rallies early
Former President Donald Trump (left) pushed back when Vice President Kamala Harris (right) said his supporters left his rallies early – and claimed that Harris paid people to attend her rallies
‘And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you,’ she added.
That assertion got Trump sputtering.
He was asked by moderators why he encouraged Congressional Republicans to tank a border bill deal, but Trump instead said he wanted to address Harris’ rallies comment.
‘She said people start leaving,’ Trump said. ‘People don’t go 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 continued: ‘People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.’
Since Harris took the place of President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket in late July, she’s been attracting large crowds – something that wasn’t seen during the 2020 cycle when Biden held small COVID-conscious events.
Before the debate the Harris campaign launched an ad that trolled Trump on rally size with comments made by former President Barack Obama. In his recent speech at the Democratic National Convention, Obama hinted that Trump’s ‘obsession with crowd size’ has a deeper meaning.
A Harris campaign ad that was released earlier Tuesday showed footage of sparsely populated stands at a Trump rally to get under the ex-president’s skin
It primary featured former President Barack Obama gesturing at the Democratic National Convention suggesting that former President Donald Trump’s obsession with crowd size had deeper meaning
After the debate crowd size row Trump spun up the most bizarre attack of the 90-minute event as he returned to the topic of immigration.
He followed the lead of his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, in claiming – falsely – that people’s pets were being eaten by Haitian immigrants in the town of Springfield, Ohio.
ABC News’ moderator David Muir then inserted a fact check.
‘I just want to clarify here, you bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals.’
The former president’s MAGA allies accused the ABC moderators of bias for fact-checking some of Trump’s statements throughout the night.
After Muir asserted the pet-eating claims were false, Trump pushed back.
‘I’ve seen people on television say my dog was taken,’ the ex-president argued.
‘A dog was eaten by the people,’ Trump said.
Those few moments of the debate put the ex-president on defense for the rest of the showdown, with a CNN snap poll showing that Harris was the clear winner.
Trump ally, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, told The Bulwark’s Tim Miller that the aides who prepped the Republican for the debate should be fired – as his lack of true preparation showed.
