Late-Night Hosts React To Harris-Trump Debate: 'What the F--k Just Happened?'

"Harris got under his skin like she was stuffing in butter and rosemary; it was beautiful, by the end of the debate the meat was falling off the bone," says Colbert.

The hosts of The Daily Show, The Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live offered their respective opinions on the first Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump presidential debate of 2024.

The Democratic and Republican candidates met for the first time face-to-face on national television, and kicked off their debate with an awkward handshake before a nearly two-hour rally moderated by ABC News' Linsey Davis and David Muir.

The late-night hosts pulled the most controversial and celebrated moments from the debate and reacted with their comedic takes.

Hollywood Reacts to Trump-Harris Debate: Taylor Swift Has Entered the Chat

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart was quick to point out that he believed neither Trump nor Harris really answered any questions.

"I just want to say after surviving the PTSD of the last presidential debate (between Trump and President Joe Biden) how unbelievable refreshing it is to go back to the same old, 'NOBODY'S GOING TO ANSWER ANY F--KING QUESTIONS!'", the host yelled as the audience cheered.

"This is unbelievable! We're back, America is back."

However, his opinion quickly changed during the moment the pair shared their stances on abortion, where Trump proudly proclaimed that "everybody" wanted to overturn Roe v Wade.

"What you just said, yeah, that's actually insanely false ... The majority of people wanted it? You know what, Kamala Harris, can you address this with a bit more eloquence," Stewart said before Harris' response played.

"I have talked with women around our country. You wanna talk about, this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail -- and she's bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn’t want that," Harris responds to Trump.

"She crushed that," Stewart added before Trump's follow-up played where he made the mention of student loans.

"Ahhh you don't have an answer to it, student loan smoke bomb," Stewart joked about the unrelated response.

"But we're settling into a rhythm here, nice back and forth. I've got to give it to Trump, he's sticking to his guns and he's not letting Kamala Harris under his skin. I actually don't think she's going to be able to needle him," Stewart said.

Which, of course, led into the clip where the "cats and dogs" comment was made. Stewart was at a loss for words and let a minute of awkward silence pass as his eyes moved back and forth in shock before he said, ''What the f--k just happened?"

He then released a "warning" to people to ensure they always 'leash their dogs," in case their pets run, putting them at risk of being eaten by their "immigrant neighbors".

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show celebrated Harris straight off the bat.

"Kamala Harris came in needing to rattle Trump's cage and now that it's over, they are still looking for pieces of his cage in low orbit," Colbert said as the audience cheered.

"Harris got under his skin like she was stuffing in butter and rosemary, it was beautiful by the end of the debate the meat was falling off the bone!"

Colbert focused on Trump's inability to put a decent sentence together, adding that "Trump was so nonsensical that she looked at him the way the parent looks at a kid giving a presentation of why they should be allowed to get a pet tiger." The host was referring to Harris' viral smirks as she watched Trump deliver answers throughout the night.

As for the abortion part of the evening, Colbert was impressed by ABC's Davis for live fact-checking the former President of the United States regarding his comments about abortion laws in the country.

"The reason why I’m doing that vote is because… they have abortion in the ninth month. They even have, and you can look at the governor of West Virginia [Viriginia --ed.], the previous governor… not the current governor, whose doing an excellent job, but the governor before, he said, 'The baby will be born, and we will decide what to do with the baby.' in other words, we'll execute the baby. And that's why I did that," Trump said in the clip played.

"There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born," Davis followed flatly.

"Follow up question -- can a moderator win a debate?" Colbert asked.

He also commented on the viral "cats and dogs" moment, mocking Trump's voice as he joked that there is "one town" where the pets do "all the work".

"They got the police, the fire department, they got these little puppies. They call them the Paw Patrol and their boss is a little boy," he said.

"I believe Harris gave one of the best debate performances I have ever seen, and there is nothing absolutely nothing that could have made tonight any better for Kamala Harris," Colbert said before flashing Taylor Swift's Instagram post endorsing Harris on screen.

"I stand corrected," he said as the crowd roared with cheers.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Jimmy Kimmel opened up his monologue by comparing last night's event to "watching The Lorax debate The Grinch," before he added that it was "a much better debate than the last one."

Kimmel was shocked at the fact that there was "so much insanity coming out of this Republican camp". When reacting to Trump's "cats and dogs" comment and the fact that "Ohio Haitians are eating pets" he wondered where the allegation came from.

He then referenced a statement to CNN from Senator JD Vance's office, revealing that Trump's running mate had received "a high volume of calls over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield".

Kimmel, hilariously unaware that you could just pick up the phone and call Vance, then showed the direct line to his office on the screen.

The late-night host then had prominent anti-Trump figures Jane Fonda and George Conway as guests on Tuesday night to continue the discussion.