There’s no doubt that at last night’s presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris put Donald Trump in his place. After a campaign full of lies, racist rhetoric and personal attacks on Harris, many believe it’s what the former president deserves. Here are seven quotes from the VP that rendered Trump—an infamous bully—speechless.
1. “First of all, it’s important to remind the former president: You’re not running against Joe Biden; you’re running against me.”
Throughout the debate, Trump constantly criticized President Biden as well as his administration. This line from Harris was delivered in the middle of the night and was crucial as it reminded viewers—and Trump himself—that she is a much bigger threat than her predecessor.
2. “In this debate tonight, you’re going to hear from the same old, tired playbook, a bunch of lies, grievances and name-calling.”
From the very beginning of the debate, Harris warned Americans about what to expect from Trump. The former president has never exuded any sort of grace, intelligence or professionalism throughout his political career. Like clockwork, Trump made good on Harris’ cautionary remark.
3. “He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.”
Harris said that she was taking the “unusual step” of inviting people to go to a Trump rally before offering this description. With these words, she hit Trump where it hurts. In the past, the former president has been borderline obsessive about crowd sizes—something former President Barack Obama pointed out at the Democratic National Convention last month.
4. “I actually have the endorsement of 200 Republicans who have formerly worked with President Bush, Mitt Romney and John McCain, including the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney and Congress member Liz Cheney.”
Harris rubbed in Trump’s face the fact that a lot of his old cronies and political allies have jumped ship to support her as this country’s next president. Trump brushed it off by retorting that he had to fire a lot of people during his time as President for doing a bad job, but it was obvious her words stung.
5. “Many military leaders who you have worked with have told me, you are a disgrace.”
Harris has been critical of Trump in the past regarding his foreign policy stances. She has stated that another Trump presidency appeals to authoritarians around the world for one reason. “These dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again, because they’re so clear, they can manipulate you with flattery and favors.”
6. “[Putin] would eat you for lunch.”
Harris and Trump sparred over Russia and the war in Ukraine during the debate. She informed the former president that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “eat [Trump] for lunch.”
Harris also said that if Trump were president, “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now” accusing him of abandoning Ukraine after two and a half years of war and significant military funding effort by the U.S.
7. “Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people, so let’s be clear about that, and clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that.”
Trump still denies losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden—even though there has been literally zero evidence supporting this assertion. Harris reminded Trump—as well as the American people—that his delusion is the last thing anyone needs.