Harris to Trump: Putin would 'eat you for lunch'

Vice President Harris slammed former President Trump during their debate on Tuesday night, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin would have taken Kyiv if Trump was currently in office, and would "eat you for lunch" if Trump returned to the White House.

Harris said at the debate, hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia, Pa., that if Trump were president, Putin would take Ukraine and threaten Poland next.

"Why don't you tell the 800,000 Polish-Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator, who would eat you for lunch," she said.

Harris also hit Trump for his friendly relations with other dictators and autocrats.

"The alliances we have around the world are dependent on our ability to look out for our friends and not favor our enemies because you adore strongmen instead of caring about democracy," she said. "And that is very much what is at stake here.

"The president of the United States is commander-in-chief and the American people have a right to rely on an American president who understands the significance of America's role and responsibility in terms of ensuring there is stability and ensuring we stand up for our principles and not sell them for the benefit of personal flattery," she added.

Trump and Harris sparred over the Ukraine war during the debate. Trump repeated his claim that he would end the war before he gets into office. He repeatedly declined to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.

"I want to get the war settled," he said, claiming both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky respect him. "That is a war that is dying to be settled, I will get it settled even before I become president."

Harris said Trump would just "give it up," referring to Ukraine, to end the war.

"And that's not who we are as Americans," she said. "If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now."

Trump argued the world is "blowing up" under the Biden administration, and he accused Harris and Biden of failing to negotiate with Russia before Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, and not talking to Putin over the past two years to seek an end to the war.

"Everything they said was weak and stupid, they said the wrong things," he said. "That war should have never started."