As former President Donald Trump prepares for his first debate against Vice President Kamala Harris — his second of this election cycle — he’ll be hoping to replicate some of his best debate zingers that lit the internet on fire in 2016 and 2020.
Trump has a longer track record of national-level debates than Harris, engaging in 11 GOP primary and three general election debates during the 2016 race, two debates against President Joe Biden in 2020, and one against the same opponent earlier this year. Harris, by contrast, took part in five Democratic primary debates in 2019, along with the vice presidential debate in 2020.
2024 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP AND HARRIS FACE OFF IN ABC SHOWDOWN
That means Trump has 17 national debates under his belt to just six for Harris. Plus, he has participated in debates much more recently than his opponent. However, her campaign sees it as a strength that she’s nearly 20 years younger than Trump and is trying to position her as a change candidate, so it may not matter to them that he’s spent more time on the stage.
More importantly, Tuesday night will be about who has the most memorable moments, jokes, one-liners, and zingers that stick in voters’ minds and make the rounds on social media. Harris boasts her fair share of debate quips and will look to her background as a prosecutor to tackle Trump.
HARRIS’S TOP TAKEDOWN MOMENTS AHEAD OF TRUMP DEBATE: ‘I’M SPEAKING’
Trump, on the other hand, will try to recreate some of the moments below.
“You’re a tough guy, Jeb”
Trump burst on the scene in a 2016 presidential campaign that looked like it would pit former Florida governor Jeb Bush against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But as he gained strength in the polls, Trump laid it on Bush in the debates, dubbing him “low energy Jeb.”
The exchange below was one of many in which Trump belittled the onetime frontrunner, saying sarcastically that he’s a “tough guy” and rolling his eyes before savaging Bush’s poll numbers.
President Trump: "Oh, you're a tough guy Jeb" pic.twitter.com/UilyPBl5rw
— Dillon Fillion (@DillonFillionIA) May 23, 2023
Bush dropped out in February.
“Don’t worry about it Little Marco”
With Bush vanquished, Trump trained his zingers and nicknames on other opponents such as Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL). While Trump dubbed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” Rubio got the nickname “Little Marco,” which Trump used in the clip below.
In a March debate, when moderator Chris Wallace said he had a policy question for Trump, Rubio cut in saying, “let’s see if he answers it.” Trump shot back, “Don’t worry about it Little Marco, I will.”
Even Wallace gave a quick laugh before trying to restore order.
“She tells you how to fight ISIS on her website”
Moving on to the 2016 general election, Trump took on Clinton in a contest she was thought to be running away with until Election Day. Nonetheless, Trump proved adept at getting under Clinton’s skin in their three debates, attacking both her character and her tactics.
During their first debate, he went after Clinton’s foreign policy approach, saying she “tells you how to fight ISIS on her website. I don’t think General Douglas MacArthur would like that too much.”
The line got laughs, and Clinton responded, “at least I have a plan to fight ISIS.”
“Because you’d be in jail”
Trump’s best-remembered line against Clinton is likely his five-word comeback after she suggested viewers at home start fact-checking his claims and said it’s good that someone with his temperament isn’t in charge of the nation’s law enforcement.
“Because you’d be in jail,” Trump said, immediately dropping his mic by his side afterward. Moderator Anderson Cooper was left to remind the audience not to laugh or cheer during the proceedings.
Trump also zinged Clinton when she accused him of avoiding taxes, saying, “that makes me smart.” Comedian Dave Chappelle later said that was the moment a star was born.
“I know more about wind than you do”
Four years after shocking the nation with his upset win over Clinton, Trump faced off against Biden with the pandemic hanging around his neck in 2020. His two debates against Biden did not go as well, particularly the first one where Trump talked over both his opponent and the moderator, leading Biden to quip, “will you shut up man?”
Still, he had a few good moments.
"He thinks wind causes cancer. Windmills" — Biden
"I know more about wind than you do," Trump responds. pic.twitter.com/DaN2CpJchJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 23, 2020
When Biden sang the praises of wind energy, Trump was having none of it.
“I know more about wind than you do,” he said. “It’s extremely expensive, kills all the birds, it’s very intermittent, it’s got a lot of problems, and they happen to make the windmills in both Germany and China.”
Biden challenged Trump to “find me a scientist that says that,” and said his claims were “false.”
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence”
Trump:
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.” pic.twitter.com/dyfQRQ7hjE
— Alexander Sheppard
(@NotAlexSheppard) June 28, 2024
Trump did get the best of Biden in the first debate of 2024, though that may have had more to do with the incumbent’s struggles than with anything Trump said.
With mics muted between responses, Trump chose to ignore Biden’s faltering speech for much of the debate. But when Biden spat out a confusing string of words while trying to outline his border policy, Trump couldn’t resist.
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” Trump said. “I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
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Less than a month later, Biden was gone and Trump got a new opponent.
While Harris is polling better than Biden, she is known for serving up word salads of her own and will have to defend a policy page that only emerged one day before the debate. Both candidates say they’re ready for the battle.
