Vice President Kamala Harris took aim at former President Donald Trump’s political rallies, calling into question both the content and the atmosphere. She said attendees often leave early “out of exhaustion and boredom.”
Harris during Tuesday night’s presidential debate said she was inviting voters to attend one of the former president’s rallies “because it’s a really interesting thing to watch.”
Trump during those rallies speaks about fictional characters, including Hannibal Lecter, and also about how “windmills cause cancer,” Harris said.
“And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you,” Harris said. “You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams and your, your desires.”
This combination of photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia.
Alex Brandon/AP
She added, “And I’ll tell you, I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first. And I pledge to you that I will.”
Trump and his team have often made a point of mentioning the size of his audiences, including the amount of people who attended his 2017 inauguration. Former President Barack Obama said at the Democratic National Convention last month that Trump had a “weird obsession with crowd sizes.”
Trump on Tuesday night returned in his next answer to the discussion Harris had started about the crowds at his rallies. He said attendees “don’t leave my rallies.”
“She said people start leaving. People don’t go to her rallies. There’s no reason to go,” Trump said. “And the people that do go, she’s busing them in and paying them to be there. And then showing them in a different light. So, she can’t talk about that.”
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris listens to former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speak during an ABC News presidential debate in Philadelphia, on Sept. 10, 2024.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Trump said attendees go to his rallies because “they like what I say.”
As Trump spoke, Harris placed her hand under her chin.
“We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” Trump said. “That’s because people want to take their country back.”