WASHINGTON: ‘Abdul the Taliban’, ‘immigrants eating pets’ and a Democrat who got under the skin of the Republican frontrunner for president; these were the key takeaways from a long-awaited debate between the two people who are in the race to be the next ‘leader of the free world’.

Overall, the pundits’ consensus seemed to be that US Vice President Kamala Harris had former president Donald Trump on the ropes, controlling the debate from the start and getting under her rival’s skin repeatedly, which prompted a visibly angry Trump to deliver a series of falsehood-filled retorts.

At one point, she goaded the former president by saying that people often leave his campaign rallies early “out of exhaustion and boredom”.

Trump, who has been frustrated by the size of Harris’s own crowds, said: “My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”

He then pivoted to a false claim about immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, that has circulated on social media and was amplified by Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance.

“They’re eating the dogs!” he said, as Harris laughed in disbelief. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats! They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

“Talk about extreme,” Harris replied.

Although the candidates clashed over immigration, foreign policy and healthcare, but the debate was light on specific policy details.

Muslim ‘shift’

Tuesday night’s presidential debate in the US not only positioned Harris as a clear winner, but also prompted some Muslim voters to reconsider their stated support for former president Donald Trump.

The shift began when Harris reaffirmed the commitment made by her and outgoing President Biden to pursue a ceasefire in Gaza and a two-state solution in the Middle East.

When asked to respond to Trump’s claim that she hates Israel, Harris said, “That’s absolutely not true,” describing herself as a lifelong supporter of the Jewish state.

Kamala Harris was also asked about her remarks from months ago that “Israel has a right to defend itself, but it matters how”, with one of the moderators asking how she would secure a hostage-ceasefire deal.

Harris then emphasized, “We must chart a course for a two-state solution,” which she said must ensure security for Israelis and “in equal measure” for Palestinians.

In contrast, Trump focused on his claim that Harris would allow Israel to be destroyed if elected, choosing not to address the proposed ceasefire in Gaza.

The contrasting positions of the two candidates were noted by a group of Muslims watching the debate at a restaurant in Northern Virginia. “No senior politician in the US can say more on this issue than what Harris did,” said Afsar Khan as the debate unfolded.

Another viewer, Shakil Ahmad, commented, “Trump’s decision to completely ignore the Palestinian issue shows that he would be even worse than Biden for Palestine and the Palestinians.”

Before the debate, many Muslims in America had publicly expressed support for Trump, arguing that the Palestinian genocide occurred under the Biden administration’s watch. However, the debate led some to reconsider their stance.

Harris’s assurances, however, fell short for some pro-Palestine advocacy groups in the United States.

‘Abdul’ and the withdrawal from Afghanistan

During the debate, Trump addressed his negotiations with the Taliban leading up to the 2021 US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. One remark that captured social media’s attention was his claim that he had sent a photo of the Taliban leader’s house to “Abdul, the Taliban leader,” which quickly became the subject of numerous memes.

In response to Harris’s criticism of his negotiations as “one of the weakest deals” with the Taliban, Trump recounted a conversation with Abdul — likely referring to Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior Taliban commander and Afghanistan’s first deputy prime minister.

Trump said, “I told Abdul, ‘Don’t do it anymore. You do it anymore, you’re going to have problems’. And he said, ‘Why do you send me a picture of my house?’ I said, ‘You’re going to have to figure that out, Abdul.’ And for 18 months, we had nobody killed.”

The comment drew laughter from Harris and sparked a wave of memes online, with jokes about the bizarre nature of Trump sending the photo and the imagined confusion of Abdul receiving it.

One meme joked about the awkwardness of the encounter, while another humorously suggested Trump had been stalking Abdul like a paparazzi. Another meme even imagined Trump searching all over Springfield, Ohio, for “Abdul Oblongata,” in a nod to one of Trump’s past remarks about immigrants.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2024