‘He thought he ate that’: Trump completely failed at throwing an iconic Harris moment back in her face

Former President Donald Trump really thought he had a gotcha moment.

During the 2024 Presidential Debate, Trump accused Harris of “being against fracking for twelve years.” He added that she has been against defunding the police since “forever.” Harris said that this isn’t true, while speaking away from the mic. Trump tried to mock Harris by using a similar line to what she used against former Vice President Mike Pence. “Wait a minute, I’m talking now. If you don’t mind, please. Does that sound familiar?”

He tried to have his moment and couldn’t even be original about it. Trump supporters online thought that his mockery was effective and that they’ve “avenged” former Vice President Mike Pence. They were all enraged when Harris asserted herself against Pence, who was frequently speaking over her during the 2020 vice presidential debate. He interrupted her multiple times, and she had to put her foot down. Thus, the iconic “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking” clapback was born.

Trump didn’t hide that this was a direct reference to the 2020 vice presidential debate, despite that he has absolutely no ground to stand on, being the most well-known and flagrant interrupter, responding way out of proportion to brief comment he could simply have brushed past. Viewers took to Twitter to express their cringe. Many agreed that the statement wasn’t just unoriginal. It also doesn’t work. Many replies underneath video clips on Twitter joked, “He thought he ate that.” Clearly, his attempt to lean into memes failed.

As a former debater, his timing was off—not to mention, she wasn’t even speaking into her mic, so she didn’t even really interrupt him. He wasted time acting like a petty child on a non-issue in an attempt to become a popular soundbite.

Trump supporters just can’t stand it when Harris tries to assert or defend herself against men who speak over her. They see her face react to certain statements from Trump, and these rabid supporters are quick to assume her intentions. Meanwhile, they cheer Trump on, whom they think has successfully shut Harris up. They like seeing her “put in her place,” so to speak. These Trump supporters might as well say the quiet part out loud—they don’t like it when women have opinions.