Spyke
politics·politics byjordanlund

Tuesday 9/10 Presidential Debate Megathread!

Was tempted to call this "Debate 2: Electric Boogaloo" but a) A lot of Lemmy won't get the OG reference. and 2) "Boogaloo" has been co-opted and carries an unfortunate connotation these days.

Also, while it's Trump's 2nd debate of the season, it's Harris's first...

It's being run by ABC News at 9 PM Eastern time, 6 PM Pacific, I see MSNBC starts their coverage TWO HOURS EARLY. That's a lot of air time to fill, guys. Good luck!

Live updates, how and when to watch, debate rules, etc. here:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/10/debate-trump-harris-2024-live-updates/75145043007/

Link to the first debate thread here:

https://lemmy.world/post/16973660

That't it! Thanks for hanging with it everbody!

View original on lemmy.world

OMG Trump is off the rails and i absolutely love it!

Moderator: "Just to be clear, you have a plan? "

Trump: "I have concepts of a plan?"

155

In the post debate interview, Tim Walz just referenced Trump as an old man yelling at clouds. I love it.

118

"I have the concepts of a plan. I'm not president right now!"

Holy shit, dude. You biffed that one hard.

116

“Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”

— Former President Donald J. Trump

114

"i'm a gun owner, we're not taking guns away." strongest opinion from a democrat i've heard on this topic.

110

So here are my thoughts:

  • First, the obvious: Harris won handily. She was in her element, and just thoroughly excoriated Trump at every turn, while maintaining an optimistic tone.
  • But at the same time, Trump is probably not losing any of his base over his abysmal performance. Most of them probably didn't watch, and the few that did probably tuned out in favor of reading conservative bloggers' desperate spinning about halfway through.
  • The real question is how off-putting he's been for undecideds. He was pretty bad, but I'm aware enough of my own biases to wonder exactly how bad his behavior looks to undecideds.
  • On the issues, Harris didn't really have a stumble. I was pleasantly surprised by how well she handled the issue of Israel/Palestine, for example.
  • The moderators get a B for following up questions, a C- for mic handling, and an A- for calling it out when Trump's bizarre, rambling bullshit failed to even vaguely resemble an answer.

All in all, I didn't hate this (other than the sound of Trump's face hole).

106

From where I was sitting, it seemed like Harris beat the ever-loving-shit out him. He took every piece of bait she laid out. I'm not the target though, so I hope undecideds saw what I saw.

86

Harris exceeded high expectations and Trump failed to meet incredibly low expectations.

Let the spin begin, but I saw what I saw.

82

"I AM RESPOND!"

"No sir we need to get to the next quest..."

"I AM RESPOND NOW!"

"No, Mr. President we need to..."

"I AM RESPOND!"

"Oh OK."

"THEY WEAK ME STRONG! HONK HONK!"

65

HE’S GOT CONCEPTS OF A PLAN, KIDS, SHIT I’M ALL IN

60

The take aways, there are illegals getting sent to jail for trans surgery that are then sent out to eat cats and abort born children near the Keystone Pipeline so that billions and millions and trillions of illegals can enter everyday.

Honestly, this comment is a bit crazy and stupid, but then I remember what I just watched and heard.

59
  1. “Boogaloo” has been co-opted and carries an unfortunate connotation these days.

I'm nowhere near ready to give up the fight on this one. Those bastards can pry "[Anything] 2: Electric Boogaloo" from my cold, dead hands.

56

Outsider view from across the pond:

It appears from the outset that the Trump camp is tripping over it's own feet and stepping on landmine after landmine. Literally all Harris seems to have to do is stay on message, bat off anything too controversial, and let the opposition's trousers fall down by themselves.

It'll be interesting either way. The only real surprise to me will be whether I'll learn about key moments from news outlets or from mad memez first.

55

OMG, he's arguing with the moderators about whether or not a dog got eaten!

54

Really good energy this time around, but Jesus, Trump is exhausting to listen to. No wonder crowds leave his rallies early. :)

Edit: Muted him, but I can hear my wife in the other room yelling "OH FUCK YOU!!!"

50

He really wants to fight against Biden.
"You aren't running against Joe Biden, you're running against me"

48

I live near Detroit. They are building an auto factory down the street from me where the Pistons used to play. That's not in Mexico

44

In case anyone has forgotten re Afghanistan:

Trump admitted that it was his own doing:

speaking at a rally on 26 June [2021, he] even stated that he “started the process” and claimed Biden “couldn’t stop it” if he “wanted to”.

43

The complicated school homework left the parents trying to help their kids quite confused.

40

The articles leading up to this were great. The punditry about how Harris couldn't afford one little gaffe or she's sunk.

No one seemed to remember her from senate hearings. No one remembered that she was a fucking prosecutor. She made a career out of manipulating people into self-incrimination. Her livelihood was arguing people into corners they couldn't escape. Exposing lies was her bread and butter. And she had to do so in a way that made it crystal clear to a dozen randos who were too dumb to get out of jury duty.

And Trump is a stupid, vain, easily manipulated hothead who lies about everything.

And the audience was American voters.

This is familiar territory for Harris. She knows this place like the inside of her eyelids.

38

Six years later, he still doesn't have the healthcare plan he promised in two weeks.

37

Just wish moderators would have the spine to hold Trump to the rules and just keep his mic muted and move on.

Maybe it is in the benefit of Harris given his rambling but I don't know.

37

"President Trump, thank you" sounds more and more like "Shut the fuck up now, bitch" every time a moderator says it.

37

I understand now why rich people want Trump in office, he’s soft headed and will say or believe anything they want. They basically stroke his ego to get what they want

34

Question was about how Trump would solve the problem in Israel and Palestine. Trump: "Putin!"

32

Apparently, Taylor Swift just responded to AI fakes of her supporting Trump by formally endorsing Harris.

31

Ho ho ho. Going after his fragile ego by saying foreign leaders laughing at him.

He's going to go of the rails.

30

"THEY'RE LETTING CRIMINALS INTO THE COUNTRY!"

"You get to be sentenced for your crimes in November..."

30

Notice he says he wants the war to end. Not that he wants Russia out of Ukraine. He wants the war to end with Russia getting what Putin wants.

29

"Stand back and stand by." I'd forgotten that one. God, Trump is so unremittingly awful it's hard to actually keep track of all the horrible shit he says and does.

27

I wish they just had 45min clocks, and whenever their microphone are hot, their timer goes down. It would be hilarious to see Trump yelling inaudibly for the last 25min of all debates.

27

The Harris campaign is asking about setting up the next debate. No response from the Trump camp so far.

Trump himself previously pushed for 3 debates. Let’s see what his handlers allow him to agree to after this disaster.

27

Kamala is his worst nightmare.

A woman like Hilary. A brown person like Obama. And making a mockery of his entitled ass like Obama.

Just need to trigger some rage so she can scare him like Biden did.

27

"We are going to have the best economy, she is Joe Biden and we had the highest inflation we've ever seen" - Trump

"Let's compare your economic plan with mine, we're giving tax breaks to small business."

Also, going back to the previous point that Trump lied about several times, Harris nailing the rebuff of Trump's lies that usually just go unchecked on painting Harris as a person that wants to steal guns. Very good.

Also also, Trump's entire closing statement stated one positive thing he did (we rebuilt our military) and the rest of the time was saying why Harris was bad. Harris positioned herself well here.

26

Trump's getting the pants beat off him. Based on what happened in the most recent debate, I think his next move is to drop out and let Vance run instead.

25

She just actually debated him.

Amazing, given the format, that it's allowed.

25

She had a difficult time owning up to her own crazy self.

24

A lot is riding on this, given the unprecedented impact of the last debate i expect a lot of people will be watching.

24

Trump is foaming at the mouth. He's a cornered rat. He's not winning any moderates over with this weak display.

Also, the moderators keep letting him talk and cutting off Harris. I say let him cook himself.

24

Harris’s campaign needs to meme the shit out of these moments and sound bites. So much good material.

24

Listening to Maddow list off just some of the most recent shit Trump said reminded me of one important thing: I can't wait for the very last time I hear his name in the news.

23

Moments after the presidential debate ended tonight, the Harris campaign called for a second debate, CNN reports.

23

rabid squirrel in his broken brain wheel

"BRING UP A DICTATOR TO SAY HOW AWESOME YOU ARE!!!111!!"

23

Harris has managed to remain optimistic this whole time. I'm genuinely impressed.

23

PREACH IT SISTAH!!

This fucker sold out the Afghan government and got soldiers killed because he's incompetent.

23

I don't know how anyone can watch this and not feel Trump is exposed as being nonsensical and vindictive. I feel hopeful that Kamala is changing plenty of undecided minds, though I wish she'd been able to expand more on policy and less on Trump's lies.

22

He doesn't even know. He doesn't even know that she is absolutely controlling this. He doesn't even know she's triggering every damn thing he says. This is almost sad.

I can't stop smiling.

22

He keeps talking about "he needs to get in here and sign a bill, he signs a bill the border will be closed". (After going completely non-sequitir about January 6th).

Holy shit. He dead ass thinks he's still debating Biden. Haaaaaaaaaaa

22

She is walking all over his balls in her high heels giggling her motherfucking ass off.

Does he enjoy it? Some people are saying it, many people in fact agree with me.

22

"They're eating the dogs! The people... They're eating the cats!"

There's our sound byte for the evening.

21

"With solar, you need a whole desert. Have you ever seen a solar plant? But I'm a big fan of solar."

21

I ventured over to Twitter to see what Trumpers are mad about...

They're mad the moderators keep fact checking Trump but not fact checking Harris. 🤣

20

It’d be nice if they held trump accountable for lies and muted him interrupting and talking over

20

Trump is on Hunter Biden. That's totally relevant to this debate vs Biden....oh fuck...wait...it's Harris now.

20

only reason this debate is happening because republicans fixed the electoral college in relatively low population states. Trump is a clown and republicans are embarrassing for letting him represent them

20

Kapow! Harris landed a good one. She knew where to hit him: his fragile ego about crowd sizes.

19

I don't think it really hit me how badly our country was doing until I heard Linsey Davis say, "There is no state in our country where it's legal to kill a baby."

19

When I heard Kamala Harris had been speaking to Hillary Clinton, I cringed, because Clinton lost. However, it sounds like what she was looking for from Clinton was what to expect from Trump, which is reasonable to ask Clinton about.

19

"this is why we need a president who is not consistently weak and wrong" 😆

18

Republicans nerfed Obamacare, you bollard. You KNOW this is a lie. Jeebus.

18

‘I’m talking now’ after he’s interrupted her like a dozen times.

18

Okay. Fuck abc for unmuting him whenever he talks but holy shit the female moderator is doing her job. Fact checking and follow up questions.

18

Trump lying about how much money his father gave him. Just straight up lying.

18

My god Trump is utterly deranged. There are millions of people that are still going to vote for him. If he actually wins, we deserve what's coming for allowing ourselves to be so bloody stupefied. It's unreal. Kamala carried herself like a leader.

18

Morning after thoughts:

  • The memes from this one are already amazing. "Concepts of a plan" is going to haunt Trump until his dying day.
  • Trump usually dominates any conversation he's in, simply by being the loudest one there. It often works for him. Last night, it worked against him, because he was loud about what Harris wanted him to be loud about.
  • In retrospect, the level of optimism Harris was able to maintain throughout was very impressive. She looked happy to be there, even when confronted by Trump's obvious mental illness, and I don't think she was faking it.

I'm starting to have genuine hope for November.

17

Still has no idea what NATO dues are for and how they work, and still wants to be running against Biden.

17

“They can manipulate you with flattery and favors.” That’s an intelligence assessment IIRC.

17

They're letting Trump get away with murder here. I expected nothing but am still disappointed. He's basically running with a hot mic while Kamala has to wait for her turn. Unbelievable.

Unsurprisingly he's also bulldozing the hosts in typical fashion. They at least seem to occasionally try some pushback against him, but they seem woefully incapable of actually controlling him.

17

And Taylor Swift just endorsed Kamala Harris.

16

Sweet lord The Daily Show writing room must be absolutely overjoyed they have so much Trump material.

16

I did the thumbs down at the screen and then she called it back.

Love Kamala so much. I miss McCain too.

15

Anyone have a clock on the candidates' speaking times? It feels like Trump is doubling Harris at this point, but maybe it's just because he's so infuriating.

15

Oh my god can they pleeeeeaase leave trump's mic off and just let him stew? He's interrupted at least 5 times in a row now.
I knew this was how they're gonna do it, they're gonna let Trump butt in whenever he wants because it drives ratings.

15

Yes! Appealing to Polish Americans! Make Trump’s decisions or lack of decisions personal to voters.

14

He is suggesting she go sign a bill to close the border.

She's not president, you cucumber. Not yet.

14

That "commander in chief" statement from Harris gave me a patriotism boner.

14

"GIGGLE TALK ABOUT EXTREME!" Ohhhh there's a soundbyte. That laugh gonna live rent free in Trumps head till the day he dies

14

there is no state where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born

It's crazy that they need to say that.

13

They are letting trump ramble again. Glad the moderator is calling out his lies about pet eating though.

13

He keeps repeating she has done nothing at the border but failed to answer the direct question about why he killed the border bill?

13

Trump’s Wharton professor repeatedly called him ‘the dumbest goddamn student I ever had’.

12

Every time Trump wants to change what he said, he just pretends he said it sarcastically.

12

Trump just accidentally admitted he thinks there is "some good" in Project 2025.

12

Woo. He CAN hear Kamala laughing her ass off

Not happy that the cop laughed that hard at being accused of supporting defunding the police but the bar is low.

12

Trump and his handlers just before the debate:

Handler: Mr President... (he insists on being called that by his people) - before you go out there I want you to promise again that you won't bring up the thing about people eating cats and dogs...
Trump: yeah, fine
Handler: Remember how we talked about this? And how you promised that you won't bring it up no matter what happens?
Trump: Yeah, fine, whatever.

12

She's definitely going to get the chance to question if Trump knows what a tariff is.

11

She needs to stay on target.

He brings up the border?

She brings up the fact that he killed the strongest border bill the US has ever had because "it would make Biden look good."

He brings up the cost of things?

His tariffs will raise prices by at least 10% across the board.

He brings up she's soft on crime.

She can bring up that he literally is crime incarnate.

11

It seems we know the answer to ‘will it be happy trump or angry trump?’ Angry. Very angry.

11

Right now at the one-hour mark I would say Harris is winning the debate 65/35. But, I think for his supporters and undecideds already leaning his way, this hasn't moved the needle. That's more the result of the fact that his supporters are in the CoOM: Cult of Orange Man.

11

I wish someone would ask Trump what a tariff is and how China pays it. They just let him get away with it.

11

Anyone else having a sinking feeling about this? Feels like a lot is riding on it.

11

One thing I'm trying to be mentally prepared for: Trump doing reasonably well. He's not a good debater, and he's not even going to debate, he's going to try to put on a show. But while the man has very few actual skills, brainless spectacle is one of them. So I'm trying to be prepared for that.

10

Trump going on and on with racist immigration views. Racism is all the republicans have at this point. Be scared of the immigrants! They took our jerbs!

Here comes the post-birth abortion lies.

10

"Weaving" from abortion to... student loans? Boss at the beach? What the fuck is he talking about?

10

Oh shit. Kamala going for a straight up low blow by talking about trump's low attendance .

Countdown to the n-word

10

So... This will be the last debate huh? I think Trump is going to go nuclear after this.

10

He thinks he can spin Ukraine to his advantage?

Sorority party? What the hell?!

10

Harris is winning this. She's legitimately stomping all over him. I think Trump is starting to get rattled.

Ohhh, just called her a Marxist! LOL!

10

I’ve already lost count of trump’s lies, and we’re not even 10 minutes in.

10

Back to the non-sequitur of pipelines. Dude has a unhealthy fascination about hard pipes flowing sticky liquid.

10

That debate was terrible. Harris pivoted anytime pushed with past positions and glazed war criminals. Trump has no plans or ideas for anything, and is terrible.

"i have concepts of a plan." is one of the funniest things Trump has ever said. I have to use that one next time I don't turn in work.

10

Harris needs to stage whisper “small hands, tiny baby hands” while her mic is muted.

9

45 minutes. I do like the fact that the MSNBC hosts are acknowledging just how stupid the modern "debate" is.

9

I'm generally watching this to see if there's a performance that will genuinely move the polls, but I just don't know. I tend to believe there are very, very few undecided voters, so I'm not sure anything could be said here that's going to swing those voters. At this point it's about not losing support and motivating your supporters.

In that regard, I think Harris is doing well, and I don't think Trump has to do very well. His supporters just want him to communicate anger and hate. He has seemed able to barely trip over that very low bar.

9

"we don't have in a candidate to my right ability not to be confused about facts" 😂

9

Harris really, really needs to nail Trump on blocking the bipartisan immigration bill. Speaker Johnson was on board until Trump intervened for the sole purpose of running on the issue.

This is the time that people who don’t follow politics and don’t know that are paying attention.

9

"We have so many facts and statistics"

Has failed to mention any facts or statistics throughout this debate

9

He can't admit any fault or admit remorse! He's incapable of it! I'm both amazed and repulsed by this, lmao.

8

She’s nailing this topic and he’s flailing. All he can say is me me me!

8

Oh, he brought up the Supreme Court stopping the student loan forgiveness, lol. Who made the Supreme Court super conservative?

8

Honestly that was a word salad by both of them but Trump is just off the rails with insanity.

Also, has this fucker ever been in the desert? I live here, there ain't shit there and is take solar over some stupid ass crops that don't grow there.

8

Eating eggs on Thursday for choir practice was recommended.

7

What a pleasant shift in mood here from the last debate. The general outlook here was grim after last time, but it's actually positive now.

7

His ultimate dream fantasy consisted of being content and sleeping eight hours in a row.

7

I'll have to see if it's streaming since it's morning where I am. Not sure I want to see the impeached convicted criminal that much, however; might wait for the highlights reel. Edit: spelling.

7

Good hit by Kamala about selling chips to China to benefit their military. That’s something Trump voters can easily understand.

7

All great points! How about when he gave a US military base to Putin for his birthday? Remember that one?

7

She hit him on the killing the immigration bill and brought up crowd sizes. Trump’s brain can’t handle it.

7

Why are they still arguing about abortion. Everything Kamala has said so far about the topic is quite unrefutable

7

I was in class when the debate happened, and too much Trump is exhausting - I'm watching the Daily Show recap right now. Something I've noticed is that somebody actually did Trump's makeup correctly for the debate, he didn't look like an Oompa Loompa for once.

7

Kamala…. Next time he brings up the border, pleeeease let your response be hey maybe actually answer the earlier question asked on why YOU killed a bipartisan bill?

7

She opened with an actual opening argument. And she keeps bringing the receipts. Over and over. He's completely reactive to her.

6

Harris sounds nervous and needs water. She's hiding it pretty well, but she also gets that kind of pursed, constricted voice when she's nervous. I hope she smooths and gets comfortable. She seems much more prepared but much more automated than Trump. She can't sound like she's on the stump. She's got to take some swings that don't sound like a recording.

6

I can't wait for them to discuss how they're going to fix the housing crisis, give us universal healthcare, and raise the minimum wage...

5

He fumbled in the darkness looking for the light switch, but when he finally found it there was someone already there.

5

"no judge looked at it. They said we didn't have standing"

Holy shit this is going to be fun drinking rather than depressed drinking.

5

Yes, yes, yes. Calling him out for his weakness, hiw he is easily manipulated.

5

Wait, Biden spends all his time in the beach? That's a new one.

5

Someone said NYT is clocking speech time. I couldn't find it does anyone have a link?

5