Yes, they discussed policy. Sort of. But former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris also had plenty to say about each other during their debate Tuesday night.
The presidential debate didn’t generate an immortal line — think Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle in 1988: “Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy” — though Trump did echo Ronald Reagan’s dismissive reply to Jimmy Carter in 1980, “There you go again.”
Still, the first meeting between the Republican and Democratic candidates did have its spicy and blunt moments.
A dozen examples:
TRUMP: She goes down as the worst vice president in the history of our country.
HARRIS: I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you. And they say you’re a disgrace.
TRUMP: She’s a Marxist. Everybody knows she’s a Marxist. Her father’s a Marxist professor in economics. And he taught her well.
HARRIS: And I’m going to tell you that I have traveled the world as vice president of the United States. And world leaders are laughing at Donald Trump.
TRUMP [On Harris and President Biden]: I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me. They talk about democracy. I’m a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy.
HARRIS: I said it at the beginning of this debate, you’re going to hear a bunch of lies coming from this fella.
TRUMP: Well, there she goes again. It’s a lie. I’m not signing a ban [on abortion].
HARRIS: Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people. So, let’s be clear about that. And clearly, he is having a very difficult time processing that.
TRUMP [On Biden withdrawing from the presidential race]: He got 14 million votes and they threw him out of office. And you know what? I’ll give you a little secret. He hates her. He can’t stand her.
HARRIS: Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. Donald Trump left us the worst public health epidemic in a century. Donald Trump left us the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And what we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess.
TRUMP: This is the most divisive presidency in the history of our country. There’s never been anything like it. They’re destroying our country.
HARRIS: Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump.