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Jimmy Fallon Shares His Thoughts on the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump Debate
The Tonight Show Host probed the lighter side of the presidential candidates' first matchup.
The September 10 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia was a highly-anticipated television event. Following the telecast, experts like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Nicolle Wallace provided political analysis, while Jimmy Fallon also took the opportunity to weigh in on the candidates' big night.
"It seems like most people agree it was a tough night for Trump," Fallon said during his September 11 monologue on The Tonight Show. "We haven't seen a debate performance that bad since — well, the last debate."
Pointing to Trump's headline-making claim that Ohio-based immigrants are "eating" residents' cats and dogs (Springfield police told NBC News "there have been no credible reports" of it happening days earlier), Fallon joked, "looks like Operation: I'm Not Weird isn't going well."
Fallon then interviewed fictional "Trump Policy Advisor" Ben Flanagan, who explained Trump's debate answer about having "concepts of a plan" to replace the Affordable Care Act.
Watch Fallon's Tonight Show debate reaction above.
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Jimmy Fallon on the Harris-Trump debate
Fallon also weighed in on the debate on September 10 in a Tonight Show monologue.
"Tonight was the first time Harris and Trump ever met," he said during his opening monologue. "That's why Trump prepared for the debate by binge-watching a season of Love Is Blind."
Fallon kept the jokes going, saying that Harris "tried to cast Trump as a 'relic of the past.' While Trump thinks relic is a condiment he puts on his hot dogs."
"Extra ketchup and extra relic," Fallon added, doing an impression of Trump's hotdog order.
"Tonight's debate aired on all the major networks, and it streamed on Disney+. After the debate, there was an in-depth analysis from Lilo and Stitch," Fallon joked, as an image was shown of the cartoon besties sitting behind a news desk.
Fallon then introduced several Tonight Show ad parodies that he felt were "kind of shoehorned" in during the debate's two commercial breaks — including an ad that compared watching the debate to seeing a couple bickering while shopping at Ikea.
Fallon switched to recent polling, which showed Trump up just two points against Harris in his home state of Florida. "Trump can't believe it! He's like, 'Come on, Florida, I thought you matched my freak,'" he joked.
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For more commentary on the events of Harris and Trump's September 10 debate, don't miss Late Night with Seth Meyers' live, hour-long A Closer Look primetime special on Wednesday, September 11 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming next-day on Peacock.
"From Studio 8G in Rockefeller Center, Meyers will deliver an extended edition of "A Closer Look' a tightly written comedic analysis of breaking national news and political developments," NBC stated in a press release.
Originally published Sep 11, 2024.
