2024 Presidential Candidate Debate

PHILADELPHIA-  According to Donald Trump, Cats and Dogs are on the menu! Hampton Students laugh hysterically after Trump's responses during the presidential debate Tuesday night.

Presidential Candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were asked to discuss their political standpoint on Border and Immigration laws . When it was Trump’s turn to respond, he instead mentions Haitian citizens consuming their own pets as a meal. 

“The funniest thing that Trump has said was probably that people were eating dogs and cats and pets because the moderator had fact checked him and said that there weren't any reports saying that people were eating dogs and cats. Then Trump's response was, “Well I saw it on TV,” said Jaylen Thymes, a Senior student at Hampton University.   

The New York Post stated there have been viral claims that were shared through various social media platforms by Ohio State senator and Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance. Vance shared a tweet that said “ People have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” Because of the massive increase of Haitian citizens entering the Springfield community and massive “animal abduction’ cases making their way into the mainstream, this motivated Trump to reference this issue during the 2024 Presidential Debate to defend his claims against Immigration Laws.

During the first half of the debate, mediators of the debate asked a series of questions that focused on controversial issues such as Women's Rights, Economy, and Climate Change. The first question that was addressed was “ When it comes to the economy, do you believe Americans are better off  than what they were four years ago?” Instead of responding to the question, Trump said “ I don’t say her because she has no policy. Everything that she believed three years ago and four years ago is out the window. She’s going to my philosophy now. In fact, I was going to send her a MAGA hat. She’s gone to my philosophy.”

“What I’ve noticed during his responses is that he is specifically starting all of his responses with “um actually it's not me doing all these things it's actually you.” He’s projecting all of what’s happening under his ruling onto the Biden Campaign,” said Madison Rickman, a Hampton University Student. 

Trump has a track record of making meaningless comments and responses in previous presidential debates. In the 2016 presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Trump insulted Clinton's democratic position and lack of ability to become president during the second round of the debate. Once Clinton responded to Trump, he said “ I have much better judgment than she has.. I also have a much better temperament than she has, I think my strongest asset maybe by far- is my temperament, I have a winning temperament.”
When mediators Linsey Davis mentioned Trump being a “proud pro-life president,” and the plan to extend the 6 week abortion plan in the state of Florida. Trump responded by mentioning former Virginia Governor, Ralph Northman supported women to “Rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby.”

According to NBC, Northman was asked in a 2019 interview that focused on limiting abortions during the second and third trimester that can be performed in hospitals and working with physicians to accept late-in pregnancy are necessary medically. Northam stands for families and physicians to have the final say rather than a law making the decision for them.  

“ When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of the mother and the physician, and it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus that is nonviable,” said Northam. “ Northam was not talking about abortion, he was talking about how do we care for nonviable babies,” said Jill Wieber Lense, an expert of reproductive justice and a Law professor at the University of Iowa.  

For the second half of the presidential debate, Trump made a transphobic comment which stated, “ Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison. ” Once that comment was made, students immediately were taken back and confused because of Trump’s comment that had nothing to do with the issue of fracking and climate change.

An article from The Los Angeles Times stated that the Moms for Liberty Co-Founder Tiffany Justice featured Trump as a guest panelist during the organization's annual convention in August. During the discussion,  Trump stated that kids are being sent to school to receive reproductive surgery  instead of a proper education. “ The transgender thing is incredible. Think of it, your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation. The school decides what’s going to happen with your child,” said Trump during the interview.

“There are no instances of children receiving surgery or access to surgeries from their schools. No provider in the US would perform surgery on a minor under the direction of a school, let alone without parental consent,” Said Landon Hughes, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics states “ Any gender-affirming medical care or surgical care would legally require the consent of (both) parents/legal guardians and assent of an adolescent under 18.”

Mediator David Muir highlighted the January 6th massacre and the previous messages and signals that were sent to his supporters hours before the U.S. Capitol riot. Muir asked if it's anything that Trump regretted happening that day. “ You just said a thing that isn’t covered. Peacefully and patriotically, I said during my speech. Not later on. Peacefully and patriotically. And nobody on the other side was killed,” said Trump

“This was a terror attack. 138 injured, almost 10 dead. Those responsible remain a danger to our democracy, our country, and human life in the vicinity of our Capitol and beyond,” said  New York Democrat, Alexandria Icasio-Cortez on Twitter on October 24th, 2021

According to The New York Times, at least 150 State Capitol officers were injured during the Capital invasions which also left 100 employees traumatized. There were seven deaths that related back to the Capitol attack in June and reports of Capital Officers  Gunther Hashida and Kyle DeFreytag died of suicides a month later. After the Capitols officers passed, Senators, representatives, and the democrats of Virginia wrote a letter to Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel E. Bowser to grant former Officer Smith to be given a line of death designation.

“ When he said “The J6,"he called it as if it was a party or something,” said Madison, a graduating Senior at Hampton University.

Mediator Muir asked both Harris and Trump for their final statements as the debate came to a close. Once Harris left her final remarks to viewers, Trump made the decision to reiterate information regarding the border crisis, fracking, and ongoing wars.

Wars, Abortions, pet abductions, insults, and Capitol attacks were featured on the menu. But truth, accountability, and facts were not served during the presidential debate which left a funny taste within the Hampton University students mouths.