Sep. 10, 2024, was the first and possibly only presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The debate was everything that the public thought it would be — candidates discussed policies, threw insults and argued — and when the dust settled it was clear that Harris had beaten Trump. Following the debate, Trump was quick to find excuses and point fingers.
Almost immediately after the debate, Trump said ABC hosted a “rigged” debate and that the government regulators should take away ABC’s license. In reality, Trump had yet again made a fool of himself on national television in front of tens of millions of people.
During a discussion of immigration between the two candidates, Trump made the wild accusation that, “They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats.”
This unsubstantiated myth has been circling the internet for several days as Trump’s candidate for vice president, JD Vance, has been fanning the flames. Debate moderator David Muir quickly challenged the claims, mentioning there are no credible reports of animals being eaten in Springfield, Ohio by the immigrant population.
Trump’s dissemination of dangerous and hateful misinformation and rumors is a common occurrence. That he would make such an absurd and outlandish accusation is unsurprising to most. From claiming that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States to making “162 misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies” in a 64-minute press conference in August 2024, Trump has a history of lying and misstating even the most basic facts, and after last night’s debate it is clear who the real loser is: the Republican Party.
When Trump won the Republican Primary nomination in 2016 and then proceeded to win the presidential election that year, it became clear the GOP had taken a serious turn. A significant number of prominent Republicans have recognized that the party has shifted and are unable to back the former president’s 2024 campaign.
Recently, a letter was signed by more than 200 Republicans who worked under former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush as well as Senators John McCain and Mitt Romney that formally endorsed Harris.
The letter stated that democracy would be “irreparably jeopardized” by another Trump presidency, and that they recognized their ideological differences with VP Harris, but the alternative to her is “simply untenable.”
By elevating a lying, hateful and deceitful individual to the head of the Republican Party, Republicans have tarnished their party’s reputation and pushed many of their own politicians and supporters to align with Democrats.
Last night’s debate was a reminder to Republicans of who they have pushed to the forefront of their party: someone who will level unsubstantiated and racist accusations against a group on national television. The Republican Party should be focused on one thing and one thing only right now: making their own party great again. The Party of Lincoln has strayed far from the ideology and the values that they once held.
