Yes, they talked politics. Sort of. But former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris also had plenty to say about each other during their debate Tuesday night.
The presidential debate did not produce an immortal line (think Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle in 1988: “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy”), although Trump did echo Ronald Reagan’s dismissive response to Jimmy Carter in 1980: “There he goes again.”
Still, the first meeting between the Republican and Democratic candidates had its spicy and forceful moments.
A dozen examples:
TRUMP: She will go down in history as the worst vice president in the history of our country.
HARRIS: I've talked to military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you are a disgrace.
TRUMP: She's a Marxist. Everybody knows she's a Marxist. Her father is a professor of Marxist economics and he taught her well.
HARRIS: And I'll tell you, I've traveled the world as vice president of the United States and world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump.
TRIUMPH [On Harris and President Biden]:I was probably shot in the head for the things they say about me. They talk about democracy. I am a threat to democracy. They are the threat to democracy.
HARRIS: I said it at the beginning of this debate, you're going to hear a lot of lies coming from this guy.
TRUMP: Well, there it goes again. It's a lie. I'm not going to sign a ban. [on abortion].
HARRIS: Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. Let's be clear about that. And he's clearly having a very hard time coming to terms with that.
TRIUMPH [On Biden withdrawing from the presidential race]He got 14 million votes and he was kicked out of office. And you know what? I'll tell you a little secret. He hates her. He can't stand her.
HARRIS: Donald Trump left us with the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. Donald Trump left us with the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us with the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And what we've done is cleaned up Donald Trump's mess.
TRUMP: This is the most divisive presidency in the history of our country. There's never been anything like it. They are destroying our country.
HARRIS: Clearly, I'm not Joe Biden, and I'm certainly not Donald Trump.
