During this week’s presidential debate, Donald Trump’s comments turned him into an international “laughing stock,” according to panelists on MSNBC. The former president launched into a bizarre rant after Kamala Harris remarked that many of his rallygoers leave early due to “exhaustion or boredom.” Trump’s response took an unexpected turn when he repeatedly debunked claims about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, stealing and eating pets, a statement that left media outlets around the world baffled.
“Even allies now worry that his unsubstantiated claims about migrants eating people’s pets have weakened his cause,” MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing said. “It is part of a pattern. Trump brings up what he calls migrant crime or the migrant invasion in almost every single rally he does, but his decision to embrace this particular conspiracy theory has taken on a life of its own.”
Jansing noted the bizarre international reaction to Trump’s statements. “Even Germany’s foreign ministry, in a statement about renewable energy, included a [postscript]: ‘We don’t eat cats and dogs.’ A headline in the British paper The Standard called him a ‘laughing stock.’ Harris’s plan, in the meantime, seems to be to let Trump keep talking. The thinking is he’s only hurting himself.”
The panel discussed how Trump’s comments backfired not just internationally but also with American voters. A focus group organized by Fox News revealed that voters from across the political spectrum — Democrats, independents, and Republicans — showed a significant dip in approval during the debate when Trump made the claim about migrants eating pets. The strongest drop in support came from independents and Republicans.
“This was an idiotic moment by Donald Trump, truly an idiotic moment,” former GOP congressman David Jolly commented on MSNBC. “As the focus groups show, Democrats, independents, Republicans all are scratching their heads, saying, why is Donald Trump doing this?”
Jolly also expressed concern about Trump’s increasing reliance on internet conspiracies and fringe figures. “I think part of what is so unsettling is we also see a former president trying to regain the White House by paying attention to internet conspiracies and social media conspiracies and the likes of Laura Loomer and others going into this debate,” Jolly added. “We see someone lacking the capacity to return to the White House if he didn’t have it in the first place.”
Despite Trump’s attempts to rally his base, his controversial statements and fixation on conspiracy theories seem to be creating more harm than good for his campaign.