Elections

The Best Memes From the Presidential Debate Between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

MEMEIFICATION

With a debate that had memorable lines such as “they’re eating the dogs” and “transgender operations on illegal aliens,” the internet is the real winner.

Meme from the Kamala Harris, Donald Trump debate
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With much of Tuesday's presidential debate devolving into outlandish and untrue claims from Donald Trump, the internet has been flooded with memes of the former president’s most nonsensical sound bites of the night.

Hours after the televised face-off with Vice President Kamala Harris ended, phrases like “they’re eating dogs” and “transgender alien operations” were still trending throughout social media.

Here are some of the best memes from the debate:

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“They’re Eating the Dogs”

After Harris made a jab about Trump’s crowd sizes, Trump responded by rambling about immigrants eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio. ABC moderators quickly interjected to say that the Springfield city manager said there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by individuals from the immigrant community, and Trump’s statements of “they’re eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats” were met with mockery online—and a lot of references to the Simpsons, the cartoon family that famously lives in a Springfield of an unspecified state.

Meanwhile, the Trump camp has begun posting AI-generated images portraying Trump as the champion of cats and pets:

Killing Babies

Moderators had to step in another time during the debate, when Trump tried to accuse Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, of calling for abortion in the ninth month and “execution after birth.” “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” moderator Linsey Davis responded.

Transgender Operations for Aliens

Another Trump phrase that drew the eye of the internet was his claim that Democrats wanted to “do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” “This is a radical-left liberal,” Trump said.

Harris’ facial expressions

Harris did not escape the debate’s memeification, though most non-right-wing posts were less about mocking her performance and more about celebrating her dramatic facial expressions.

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