Kamala Harris hit Donald Trump where it hurts early in the debate.

“I’m going to actually do something unusual, and I’m going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump’s rallies,” Harris began. “People start leaving his rallies early, out of boredom and exhaustion.”

David Muir, one of ABC’s two moderators for the debate, had asked about immigration – Trump’s favorite topic – but when Harris wrapped her remark with a jab about Trump’s crowd sizes, the former president could not help but take the bait. First, Trump claimed without evidence that Harris paid people to attend her rallies. Clearly wound up, he began to ramble – about immigrants eating people’s pets.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” said Trump. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Trump’s claims about immigrants allegedly killing and eating the pets of US citizens originated, apparently, with a viral video of a resident of Springfield, Ohio, claiming before the town’s council that immigrants in the community had killed ducks from a local park for food. The unsubstantiated and inflammatory video was shared widely on rightwing accounts, evolving quickly into a viral meme featuring AI-generated images of Trump surrounded by cats and dogs, appearing to protect them.

Prominent figures in Trumpworld seized quickly on the meme. The vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, who had previously spoken about the influx of Haitian people to Ohio,...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFBVV95cUxNVDlqZGxJSTFjMFUzWTNTbmxx...