Three of the five regular late night comedy programs were able to react to Tuesday’s debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and all agreed that Harris was the big winner as they attacked Trump for spreading falsehoods while covering for the falsehoods told by Harris and the ABC moderators.
On Comedy Central, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart reacted to Harris’s facial reaction after Trump recalled her father being a Marxist economics professor, “Oh, [bleep]. She’s about to be like, 'Motherfucker, let's just do this. I'm going to,' she’s about to—a Marxist? She’s about to open up a cup of Ass Kapital on Donald Trump. Linsey Davis, you better change it before the fingers on Kamala’s hand unite.”
Switching to abortion, Stewart played another clip of Trump discussing how “We’ve gotten what everybody wanted,” and reacted, “What you just said, yeah, that is actually insanely false. The majority of people wanted it, you know what, Kamala Harris, can you address this with a bit more eloquence?”
In the Harris clip, Harris falsely suggested that pro-life laws are to blame for pregnant women being denied miscarriage care, but Stewart’s fact-checking only went one way, “Holy [bleep]. She crushed that! This is like, what? This is like one of those Groundhog Day movies where you get to go back and fix the bad way that something happened earlier to the good way.”
Stewart wasn’t the only one who had inconsistent abortion fact-checking standards. Fellow Paramount host, CBS’s Stephen Colbert, declared on The Late Show, “He was so nonsensical that she looked at him the way a parent looks at a kid giving a presentation on why they should be allowed to get a pet tiger. Then, when the moderators asked a basic question about Roe v. Wade, Trump lied so flagrantly that moderator Linsey Davis had to step in with this.”
In the video, Davis claimed, “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born” and Colbert cheered, “Follow up question: Can a moderator win a debate?”
No, because Harris’s own running mate signed a law that removed the requirement that babies who survived abortions be given life-saving care.
Later, Colbert welcomed CBS chief political analyst John Dickerson to get his analysis on the evening. Dickerson hyped, “Now, so, she was relentless in her prosecution of Donald Trump… So to the extent that part of being president is knowing what your task is, doing the work required to achieve your task, and then, under pressure, performing your task as you set it out for you before, those are things you want and anybody who's trying to be in a job or have to execute things. So, in that respect, you can draw a line, it seems to me, between the behavior in the debate and the kinds of attributes and behaviors you want in a president.
In a second segment with Dickerson, Colbert asked, “How do you think she did against the onslaught of the falsehoods?”
Dickerson hyped the moderators inserting themselves into the discussion and Harris’s ability to not answer questions:
She was judicious in what she fact-checked. The fact the moderators fact-checked judiciously themselves on things that were just bloomers, that were just obviously lies, and then the third thing she did was a lot of times she ignored the questions and just said what she wanted to say, which was way of getting across what she wanted to get across, and she ignored the diverse question of the debate which was, are people better off than they were four years ago. She just went right to her policies, which, you know, we'll see if voters bother about that, but I think that was sort of the three-pronged way she got around this problem of being kind of pinned down by lies.
Over at ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the eponymous host welcomed actress Jane Fonda to the show to declare, “We saw someone that has empathy, who cares about ordinary Americans, who talks about kitchen sink issues.”
Later on, Fonda did attack the moderators from the left, “You know what I did not—what I didn't like about the debate is that it took an hour and a half to ask a question about climate.”
Kimmel appeared to agree, “But this is going to affect everybody. This is not something that anyone can dodge. And this is something that rich people, their grandkids, don't they care about—that this is something that we all should be focused on, absolutely.”
Dickerson hyped the moderators inserting themselves into the discussion and Harris’s ability to not answer question, “So many elected officials, Democrats as well as Republicans, take money from the fossil fuel industry, and now it's going to be the nuclear industry, and so they won't vote for the kind of policy and legislation that science says we have to have quickly… the orange man represents drill, baby, drill. And it's really serious, guys. It's not -- it's not rhetoric, it's not -- it's true. It’s happening.”
For his second guest, Kimmel welcomed George Conway, who hyped, “Somebody tweeted tonight during the debate that, you know -- they had discussion about late-term abortion and post-birth abortion. It's like, well, Kamala Harris aborted a 78-year-old tonight. So, Donald Trump did have a point there.”
He did have an actual point, not just the jokey one Conway thinks.
Here are transcripts for the September 10 shows:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
9/10/2024
11:40 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Trump was also so nonsensical that Kamala spent a good amount of time of the debate. He was so nonsensical that she looked at him the way a parent looks at a kid giving a presentation on why they should be allowed to get a pet tiger. Then, when the moderators asked a basic question about Roe v. Wade, Trump lied so flagrantly that moderator Linsey Davis had to step in with this.
LINSEY DAVIS: There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born.
COLBERT: Follow up question: Can a moderator win a debate?
…
12:13 AM
JOHN DICKERSON: Now, so, she was relentless in her prosecution of Donald Trump. She did not relent throughout the entire debate for what I think was a strategy, right, to rattle him and then say "look at this rattled person. We don't want to go back to that."
And we'll see who the voters liked that or not, but she prosecuted it as you said, as you said, she done her homework and so to the extent that part of being president is knowing what your task is, doing the work required to achieve your task, and then, under pressure, performing your task as you set it out for you before, those are things you want and anybody who's trying to be in a job or have to execute things. So, in that respect, you can draw a line, it seems to me, between the behavior in the debate and the kinds of attributes and behaviors you want in a president.
…
COLBERT: How do you think she dealt with the other, sort of, problem with Donald Trump, as what you call the Gatling gun of lies. How do you think she did against the onslaught of the falsehoods?
DICKERSON: I think she was judicious. The problem with the Gatling gun is you try to knock off each one and then your time is up and then you didn't get to say what you were going to say. She did two things. She was judicious in what she fact-checked. The fact the moderators fact-checked judiciously themselves on things that were just bloomers, that were just obviously lies, and then the third thing she did was a lot of times she ignored the questions and just said what she wanted to say, which was way of getting across what she wanted to get across, and she ignored the diverse question of the debate which was, are people better off than they were four years ago. She just went right to her policies, which, you know, we'll see if voters bother about that, but I think that was sort of the three-pronged way she got around this problem of being kind of pinned down by lies.
***
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
9/11/2024
12:03 AM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: I know that going into tonight's debate, you were a big Donald Trump supporter. Did Kamala do anything to change your mind tonight?
JANE FONDA: I think she probably changed a number of minds.
KIMMELL You think so?
FONDA: Yeah, I do. I think she did really well in the debate. There's no question.
KIMMEL: Do you believe that –
FONDA: But.
KIMMEL: — There is a significant number — there's a significant number of Americans who really went into tonight's debate not knowing who one they would vote for?
FONDA: Can you believe that?
KIMMEL: I don't, I really don't. Like I saw, I was watching CNN and they said “oh, we got a panel. We found many Americans” Like, no you didn’t, you found six people who haven't decided yet.
FONDA: No, I guess, from what I read, there are people who hadn't made up their minds because they didn't know enough about her and I think tonight, she — we saw someone that has empathy, who cares about ordinary Americans, who talks about kitchen sink issues.
KIMMEL: Well, what –
FONDA: I think she did well.
…
FONDA: You know what I did not — what I didn't like about the debate is that it took an hour and a half to ask a question about climate. The greatest—
KIMMEL: That is, I know, your primary concern.
FONDA: Well, it –
KIMMEL: A very valid concern.
FONDA: It should be all of our primary concerns. We are facing an historic catastrophe.
KIMMEL: You know, I have to tell you, the thing that, I think, really puzzled me the most is that this is not something that's going, I mean, of course disproportionately, it will affect people who don't have money. But this is going to affect everybody. This is not something that anyone can dodge.
FONDA: Yeah.
KIMMEL: And this is something that rich people, their grandkids, don't they care about, that this is something that we all should be focused on, absolutely.
FONDA: And here is the problem. So many elected officials, Democrats as well as Republicans, take money from the fossil fuel industry, and now it's going to be the nuclear industry, and so they won't vote for the kind of policy and legislation that science says we have to have quickly. And while I don't, you know, look. Here's what I want to say to all of you. When we vote for a president, we're not marrying them. We're not even making out with them. We're not dating them. They're not perfect. Everybody's got issues, including presidential candidates. Here's the thing. We cannot afford to lose four more years to the climate crisis. We have one ticket — the orange man represents drill, baby, drill. And it's really serious, guys. It's not — it's not rhetoric, it's not — it's true. It’s happening.
…
12:33 AM ET
KIMMEL: He's like a 6-year-old. It really is unbelievable.
GEORGE CONWAY: You know, actually, it's funny. Somebody tweeted tonight during the debate that, you know — they had discussion about late-term abortion and post-birth abortion. It's like, well, Kamala Harris aborted a 78-year-old tonight.
KIMMEL: You –
CONWAY: So, Donald Trump did have a point there.
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
9/10/2024
11:09 PM ET
JON STEWART: Oh, [bleep]. She’s about to be like, “Motherfucker, let's just do this. I'm going to” She’s about to — a Marxist? She’s about to open up a cup of Ass Kapital on Donald Trump. Linsey Davis, you better change it before the fingers on Kamala’s hand unite.
LINSEY DAVIS: I want to turn to the issue of abortion.
STEWART: Oh, boy. I am not superstitious but this is where the wheels fell off for Biden. He was asked about abortion and he somehow spun it into why are immigrants raping people and he ended with a classic phrase we'll never forget, "And that is when we finally beat Medicare." They’re feeling it too, ladies and gentlemen. As before, President Trump, you have the first crack at answering why you killed Roe v. Wade
DONALD TRUMP: We’ve gotten what everybody wanted. Democrats, Republicans, and everybody else and every legal scholar wanted it to be brought back into the states, and the states are voting [jump cut] and I did something that nobody thought was possible.
STEWART: Jon Stewart from the I Was Watching This Live Times Pickium, what you just said, yeah, that is actually insanely false. The majority of people wanted it, you know what, Kamala Harris, can you address this with a bit more eloquence?
KAMALA HARRIS: I have talked with women around our country. You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn't want that.
STEWART: Holy [bleep]. She crushed that! This is like, what? This is like one of those Groundhog Day movies where you get to go back and fix the bad way that something happened earlier to the good way, and then you learn Italian and the piano and then you get sad and then despondent and then you learn how to love yourself. Anyway, Trump will now finally have to answer to his abortion policy.
