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Presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were the sources of many memorable sound bites at their first debate — her impassioned support for abortion, his claim that migrants eat pets — but there were just as many quips when their mics were muted.
In what could be the only debate before the November election, the candidates sparred over abortion, the economy, foreign policy and immigration. ABC News muted each candidate’s mic after their turn to speak — but that didn’t mean Harris or Trump stopped talking.
A pool reporter in the room transcribed the off-mic comments which only served to underscore the bitter exchanges between the two candidates.
During a segment on reproductive rights and the overturning of Roe v Wade, led by conservative Supreme Court justices that Trump appointed, the former president claimed to have been a “leader” on in vitro fertilization (IVF). Off-mic, Harris remarked: “You have not. Come on.”
She gave a similar response after Trump suggested that Democrats would allow abortions in the ninth month of pregnancy — and “executions” of babies after birth.
The vice president, off-mic, said: “C’mon…that’s not true.”
Trump’s comments was so wild that ABC moderator Lindsey Davis cut in to fact-check. “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” she said.
In arguably the most outlandish remark of the night, Trump suggested that migrants in Ohio were eating residents’ pets. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said. “They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
The vice president immediately responded: “What? This is unbelievable.”
The former president had some of his own exasperated off-mic reactions when the vice president mentioned his ongoing civil and criminal court cases.
Trump gasped when Harris mentioned his New York City conviction. In May, he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by paying adult film star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence over an alleged affair.
At one point, Trump argued that the crime rate is higher under the Biden administration because they allowed “terrorists,” “drug dealers” and “common street criminals” to migrate into the country.
Harris replied: “I think this is so rich coming from someone who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault and his next big court appearance is in November at his own criminal sentencing.”
Trump then uttered off-mic: “She is the one that weaponized.”
During another memorable moment early in the debate, Harris suggested that Trump didn’t have a “plan” for the economy.
“I’d invite you to know that Donald Trump actually has no plan for you, because he is more interested in defending himself than he is in looking out for you,” the vice president said.
Off-mic, Trump snapped: “That’s just a sound bite. They gave her that to say.”
